


Favorable (jamilton)

by WhizzerMyMan



Series: Favorable [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: College AU, Jamilton - Freeform, Kidnapping, M/M, Panic Attacks, Torture, Violence, but its not cliche, hella homo, mostly - Freeform, now that im putting the tags it seems rlly morbid, this story started as a joke omg, tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-10-21 16:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 39
Words: 62,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17646263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhizzerMyMan/pseuds/WhizzerMyMan
Summary: Taking jobs from other people for unreasonably high prices in a probably illegal way? Alexander Hamilton knew how to navigate that.Taking care of younger siblings without any real parent to rely on? Thomas Jefferson knew how to navigate that.Dealing with an arrogant roommate with some self-important mindsets? Both of them could at least tolerate that. Falling in love was the thing neither of them knew how to handle.





	1. Hamilton

"I don't have to go, you know," Alexander said as he shoved a suitcase in the trunk of the taxi. "I could stay home and help take care of Mom." 

He really didn't  _want_ to stay, but he understood the responsibilities that he had. If his cousin said anything even close to wanting him to stay, the car would be unpacked quicker than you could say 'Rochambeau'. 

Peter shook his head and slammed the trunk shut. "No, you need to go. They don't just throw scholarships at anyone. I can handle it, just get a job when you're out there if it bothers you too much. Nothing too big, though, we're relying more on your grades than anything." 

"I know, I know." Alex ran a hand through his hair. He promised himself that he was done with running jobs for people. High school was one thing, but there wasn't much of a chance that people would know him for that in college, right?

Peter sighed and threw his arms around Alexander's shoulder. "You call me when you get there, you hear me? And every night, I'll get you updates on Rachel and you can tell me how smart you're getting over in college! Deal?" 

"Deal. Don't worry, I'm not going to get too smart and forget about my family." Alexander pulled away from his relative and smiled.

"See ya, little cousin," Peter said with a bittersweet smile. "Stay out of trouble."

"Dude, I'm just going to college." Alex finished the sentence before he could say 'I'm not dying.'. Given their situation, it wouldn't have been a wise choice of words. "I'll be fine."

"You know what I mean." Peter looked like a stern parent telling a child for the millionth time what the rules were. 

"I know, and I stand by what I said. I'll be fine." 

"Alright, call me if you need anything at all, and you still have to call me every night—

"I know, I know, I have to go now." 

"Have fun! But not too much fun—" 

The taxi driver honked his horn, startling the two outside of the car.

"Okay, I'm going now! Bye, Petey!" With one last smile, Alex got into the backseat of the car and the driver drove away from his home. 

His plan was to go to the hospital and catch another cab after he left there. 

 

 

 

As he made his way into his mother's room, Alex felt a pang of guilt. No matter how many times his family told him to go, he still felt like he was abandoning his responsibilities for his own selfish gain. 

"Hi, Mom," he whispered. 

"Hello, Alexander." Rachel smiled up at him from her bed. "The television shows here aren't that great. Maybe you could sneak me in a few movies." She threw a wink and laughed softly. Despite the minimal effort, the laugh turned into a wheezing cough.

"Mom you need to take it a little easier." Alex put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Oh, you hush. I am perfectly fine. I should be up and out of here in the next few hours, it's just taking a little longer than we thought." 

"I know, Mom," Alex's mouth pressed into a thin line as he kept his act together. They both knew as well as anyone that she wasn't getting out, at least not anytime  _soon_ , let alone in the next few hours. Neither of them wanted to admit it though. They each felt the need to stay strong for the other.

"Why don't I get us some room service, we can sit and watch these terrible cable movies." 

"That's really not—" 

"Better yet, we could read again. Just like we used to do, remember? Do you have a book with you?" 

"Well yes, I always do but—" 

"Perfect, let's read." 

"Mother!" Alex sighed as his parent quieted down. "I'm here to let you know that I have to leave for college now. I wanted to see you again before I left." 

Rachel's face fell. "Oh, yes, of course. That completely slipped my mind, dear. That's quite alright, though, I still have Petey." She tried for a weak smile, despite the welling tears in her eyes. "Oh, look at my little guy. All grown up and going to college! I'd give you a hug but. . . " she trailed off as she gestured to the tubes and wires all around her.

"I know. . . I'll stay if you want me to, just say the words and I'll stay here with you and Peter." 

"No, honey, you need to go. I'm very proud of you." 

"Mom, really. It wouldn't be too much trouble—"

"If you stay here and miss out on that scholarship, you're grounded for the rest of your life," Rachel said. Nothing about the situation suggested that she was joking so Alex just looked at the ground.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Thank you. Well, then you should be off. Be careful though, don't get into any trouble, don't drink or do drugs, and try to survive the storms, dear. I know that it's especially hard for you, but storms are just a part of life."

"I know, Mom, and I will, but I really do need to go." Alexander kissed the top of his mother's head, cringing at the thin feeling of her hair. "I love you."

"I love you too, Alexander." 

The entire way down to the car, Alex was trying to keep his breathing regulated and his mind clear. 

 _This is going to turn out fine,_  he thought as he got into the car. 


	2. Jefferson

"Twelve years of looking forward to the end of high school and school, in general, was wasted just to be shoved  _back_  into more school that has double the pressure put on students." 

"Hey, Thomas?" 

"What?"

"Shut up."

Thomas glared at his older sister as they packed clothes into a suitcase. He didn't bother folding them so it was mostly just a blob of various colors and wrinkles. 

Jane rolled her eyes and took the suitcase. She started folding the clothes and handing some shirts off to her brother to be folded. Thomas let out an exaggerated groan as he folded a shirt.

"You're being dramatic, it's not like you won't know anyone there. I go to the same college and so does Mary." 

"Yeah, but I won't have any classes with you and I still have to deal with living with someone that I don't know. You two get to live together." Thomas through the shirt down, half undoing his terrible folding job.

"That's because you aren't a girl, Thomas. If we actually had the work ethic to handle school and jobs, we could probably get an on-campus house or apartment, but the grades will do us better in the long run. You especially could use that." Jane shrugged and decided that folding the clothes was a lost cause and just shut the suitcase. 

"Hey! My grades were fine!" Thomas shouted as his older sister walked out of the room. 

"Obviously. Come on let's go say our farewells to the rest of the herd, grab Mary, and go." 

Thomas nodded and grabbed the suitcase from his bed. He hefted it over his shoulder and onto his back and walked into the loudness of the house. Immediately, he was tackled by two younger kids. 

"It's not fair when it's two to one, come on guys!" Thomas looked at his youngest two siblings, Randolph and Anna.

"You gotta have a way to 'member us when you're at Colgate." Anna smiled proudly up at her brother. Randolph nodded eagerly in agreement. 

" _College_ , baby. I'm going to college. Colgate is toothpaste. And I am going to visit, you know." Thomas laughed and sat up. He glanced over to the rickety looking stairs and saw one of his sisters sitting with a book. 

"Martha! Get over and say bye!" 

Martha quickly went over, gave her brother a hug, and went back to her book, muttering a quick 'visit soon'. 

"A book is more important than me, huh?"

"They're more important than everyone. Things are just getting good, I need to know what Nico's secret is. Cupid's really into it. . ." Martha slowly went back to be being totally devoted to her book. She looked up long enough to nod toward two other girls sitting on a couch. Thomas's eyes went from the fifteen-year-old on the stairs to his other siblings that were sitting on the couch in front of a small T.V., though it didn't look like either of them was really watching it. 

Thomas glanced back at Mary and Jane, who shooed him over. Mary picked up his suitcase and told him that they would be waiting in the car. He made his way over to his sisters on the couch. Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth glared past him at the show. 

"Lizzy, I'm not going to be gone forever," Thomas whispered as he knelt in front of his sister. 

"Did you hear something, Lucy?" Elizabeth looked at her younger sister, knowing full well that the nine-year-old would follow in her footsteps, like usual. 

"She's mad at you for leavin'," Lucy translated. 

"Yeah, I'm mad! I can't handle taking care of Mom and the twins and you, Lucy! That's the grown-up's job, I shouldn't have to split my time between kids, a job, and school." Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms like she was the nine-year-old. 

"She  _really_ doesn't want you to leave." Lucy looked down at the ground. "She says I'm too young to understand, but I don't want you to either. You can't stay, Tommy?" 

"No, sweetheart, I can't. But that's okay because when I get up there, you can come visit me and we can all go on a day out in the city! How's that sound?"

"Awesome!" Lucy cheered. 

Thomas turned his attention back to the older of the two girls. "Just remember that I'm doing this for us, Liz. I'm going to get a  _really_  good job after college, then I'm going to get us a nice house with you and everyone else. We won't have to worry about Mom or anything. You remember that, don't you?" Thomas lightly punched her shoulder. "You'll get a bay window and window seat."

Elizabeth kept her glare on the T.V. but she wiped a tear from her eyes. "I still think you should stay." 

"And I still think that I need to go if we're ever going to get out of here."

Elizabeth didn't say anything else. 

"I'll visit, I promise. Maybe I'll meet someone with a ton of money that I can get married to and rush the process a little more, wouldn't that be something?" Thomas laughed, Lucy did too, but Elizabeth still remained glaring at the T.V.

"I need to go now, Lizzy. If you need help, just call one of us and we can probably help you out. You can do this."

"Just go, I don't want you to miss anything." 

Thomas sighed again and made his way back over to the twins. "You two, take it easy on Elizabeth, alright?" 

"That's not fun!" Anna shouted. 

"Yeah well, I don't care. You two are going to be nice to her and you're going to listen or I will personally tell Santa that you don't get any presents this year." 

The six-year-olds' faces paled. Despite money troubles and tight budgets, they always got something for Christmas. Thomas held back a laugh. 

"And Randy, you're gonna be the man of the house now, you're going to have to take care of your sisters too, understood?"

"Yes'sir!" Randolph saluted Thomas. The older brother bent down and ruffled the kids' hair. 

He glanced at Martha, who was actually looking up from her book, she ran up to her brother and gave him a hug before he walked out. 

"Don't forget. Easy street," she muttered. 

"I would never forget about Easy Street, that affects me too, sis," Thomas laughed. "I really need you to help your sister out, though. She's going to be really stressed." 

Martha nodded. "You got it, bro." 

With one more smile, he headed for the door.

"I'll see y'all over the holidays!" Thomas waved to his siblings one last time, he tried to give Elizabeth a supportive smile but she still didn't look at him. 

Thomas jogged out of the house to join his older sisters in the car. "Shotgun!" 

"Try again, little brother," Mary responded as she struggled to close the trunk.

"What? Come on, I called it first!" 

"I was born first. Back seat, now."

Thomas groaned and slumped in the back seat. "Fine, can I at least choose the music?" 

"Are you sure that you're smart enough for college?" Jane chimed front the driver's seat. 

"What's your reason for not letting me choose?" Thomas complained. 

"I'm the driver and driver picks the music." 

"Well then let me drive."

"Nope, I have a plan for that. It's about a six-hour drive, so we all get two hours going from youngest to oldest. When it's Mary's turn to drive, you get shotgun."

Thomas stuck his thumbs up and sighed. He pulled out a small outdated phone and plugged in some headphones. Mary got into the car and Jane started driving. Thomas glanced in the passenger's side mirror and watched as the decaying house disappeared. He already felt guilty for leaving a kid in charge of more kids and an adult. It wasn't fair to her or anyone involved. 

 _She'll be alright, though,_ Thomas thought. He tried imagining his carefree sister in charge of the house. The bills, the kids, the parent, the cooking. . . It \seemed like so much to leave on a teenager's shoulders but he didn't have much of a choice. The more education he got, the more likely it was going to be for him to get them out of the situation they found themselves in. 

It wasn't like he was just leaving it on her shoulders with no previous experience, though. As soon as Mary went into college, Thomas was left in charge and he'd been teaching Elizabeth what to do when it was her turn to step up. She'd babysit the twins and practice what to do in the case of one of their mother's breakdowns, and with Lucy as her mini-me for last six years. . . Elizabeth wasn't totally unprepared. 

Thomas leaned against the window and closed his eyes. He was too excited to sleep the night before so he decided to catch up on a little rest on the drive. 


	3. Hamilton

As soon as Alex had everything he needed, he made his way up to the correct dorm. It wasn't much bigger than the single bedroom that he and Peter shared back home. At the thought of his cousin, Hamilton felt wave of homesickness wash over him

"You haven't been gone for twenty-four hours, shut up," Alexander muttered to himself. 

He threw the suitcase on one of the beds and started empty the clothes inside into the drawers that were built into the bottom of the bed frame. It didn't take all that long so as soon as he was done he decided to set up a stable workspace on one of the desks and set up the programs on his school-provided laptop. 

That didn't take as long as he wanted it to, either. 

Alex glanced out of the single window that was in the room. Despite leaving early, the sky was already a darker orange color. Hamilton ran a hand over his face and groaned. 

"Stable sleep schedules are needed for college," he reminded himself. 

"Oh, great my roommate talks to himself." 

Alexander jumped at the sound of a voice behind him. He quickly took a glance down at the paper that had his roommate's name printed on it. He jumped up to meet the other man with a handshake. 

"You must be Thomas! Alexander Hamilton." He thrust his hand out and smiled proudly. 

"Uhm, right." Thomas hesitantly shook the smaller man's hand. 

An awkward silence followed. It didn't stop for at least forty seconds before Hamilton decided that it would be better to get familiar with the area before he got familiar with his roommate. Or, better yet, get familiar with both at the same time!

"I'm just going to go get some coffee, want to come?" Alex offered. 

"It's almost eight o'clock and you want caffeine?" Thomas threw his bags on the bed. 

"It's never too late for coffee. Besides, decaf is a thing. A completely useless thing, but a thing nonetheless." Hamilton shrugged and went to the doorway. "You coming or not?" 

"Hard pass, thanks." Thomas scoffed and went to unpacking the designer clothes from his bags. Most of them were magenta. 

Deciding that he would probably not like his roommate too much, Alex pulled his used phone from his pocket and dialed the landline that Peter would be using. After one ring, Pete picked up.

" _Alexander! How are things? Did you get there alright, have you met your roommate yet?_ "

"I'm about to tell you if you would let me talk!" Alex laughed at his cousin's enthusiasm. He hopped down the stairs, taking them two at a time in his excitement to explore the area. 

" _Oh. Right, speak away._ " 

"Right now I'm on my way to get coffee and get familiar with the area. It's actually pretty nice over here." The orange sky was better from outside. 

" _Why are you getting coffee this late?_ " 

"That would be because my roommate is a total snob." Alex sighed as he realized that he would be staying with the snotty rich kid all year. "He has all magenta clothes as far as I saw, his hair is bigger than his ego probably, and his name is Thomas." 

" _What does his name have to do with the snobbiness?_ " 

"Oh, it doesn't. I just thought you might want to know his name. I bet he gets all on-brand clothes." 

" _Alex, you literally just met him today. There is no possible way that you know him_ ," Peter whispered like he wanted to say more but that was the only thing that he could put into words. 

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" 

" _Nothing, but people aren't always as happy, sad, snobby, or poor as they seem. Maybe he's got some horrible life that you don't know about._ " 

Alex was going to respond but his cousin started up again. 

" _Hey, I'll call you tomorrow morning, I've got another important call coming in on the other line. Goodnight and be nice to people, got it?_ " 

"Is it about Mom?" 

" _No, it's not. It's something else. Bye!_ " 

Before Alexander could say anything else, Peter hung up the phone. He shut the phone down as he approached the campus coffee shop. He walked in and fell in love with the smell and atmosphere of the small building. There were sofa's scattered around, along with barstools and regular tables, the lighting was mostly provided by gold holiday lights hanging from the ceiling and wooden beams that were attached from wall to ceiling. Instead of plastic cups to drink from inside the restaurant, there were actual glass mugs. Alex figured that from the tub of dirty mugs near the door. 

Music played lightly over a single speaker. It was just loud enough to be heard around the shop but you'd have to be near the counter actually hear the song's lyrics.

There were only two other customers in the store, they were sitting closer to the back.

Then Alex noticed that the barista was trying to talk to him. 

"Sorry, what'd you say?"

"Well, first I said 'hi welcome to the Hip Stir, how may I help you?' Then I said, 'are you a stoned college kid?'"

Alex slowly went up to the counter, still enjoying the look of the establishment. He didn't recognize the song playing but it made the place feel more comfortable. "Yes, how'd you know? About the college kid part, not the stoned part."

The man behind the counter smiled. "Takes one to know one, mostly. What can I get ya?"

"Oh. . . Um. Double shot espresso?"

"You going for caffeine this late?" The barista shot Alex a suspecting look. Alexander could feel his face light with excitement to already have the chance to prove someone wrong.

"Actually, one two-ounce double espresso only has about eighty milligrams of caffeine. A twelve-ounce cup of normal drip coffee has about one hundred twenty milligrams, so there's really more caffeine in a normal drip."

The barista just looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Who are you, exactly?" He asked as he filled a cup.

"Alexander Hamilton."

The barista turned around so quickly that he almost dropped the glass. " _You're_ Alexander Hamilton?"

"Um, yes? Why is that surprising?"

"You have pretty much the entire campus afraid of you! Or at the very least respect you to a point bordering fear. . . You have got to teach me how to do that."

 _Oh great_ , he thought.  _Someone that I don't even know knows about that._

Alexander just shrugged and hoped to leave it at that. 

"I'm John Laurens, by the way. Lafayette, Mulligan, get over here!" John turned and called the other two customers over.

 _I just wanted coffee and now I have three potential acquaintances. This is really shaping to be an exciting year_ , Alex thought as two more men came over.

"What?" The slightly shorter one asked.

"I present to you, Alexander Hamilton! Alexander Hamilton these two tall and taken drinks of water are Hercules Mulligan the wonderfully French Lafayette."

The taller of the two men stepped closer and looked at Alexander like he was a science experiment that was finally showing results.

"I'm actually Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, but Lafayette is easier for everyone, or Gilbert if you really care that much. I have to say, I expected someone taller," the tall man said, his French accent surprisingly noticeable. Alex couldn't help but think about the resemblance that he held to Thomas Jefferson.

"Wait, what do you mean 'expected'?" Alex asked. 

"Well, you sort of have a good amount of people nervous that you go here, at the very least." Mulligan shrugged. 

"Why would that be?" Alexander snapped. He wasn't planning on bringing any attention to it but it was getting annoying so he decided last second to address it.

"You're joking, right?" Lafayette deadpanned. "You were a legend in high school! Always doing jobs for money, never backing out of one, rumor has it that one time you actually killed a man." Lafayette looked weirdly excited. "So yes, I sort of expected someone taller."

"Laf you and Mulligan are literally the tallest people that I have ever met, shut up," John teased. 

"That's not exactly true! Jefferson's taller than me by two inches!" Lafayette corrected

"Wait, Jefferson? As in Thomas?" Alex cut in. 

"You know him?" Hercules asked. 

All eyes turned to him and Alexander wondered if he said something wrong. Whether he did or not didn't matter, he said what said and he was going to follow through on it. 

"He's my dormmate." Everyone's eyes went wide. 

"He goes here?!" John pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great. That's just perfect." 

Alex was relieved to see that he wasn't the only one hoping that he didn't know someone there.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Well, he's nice to me and Hercules, but when he met John after we got back from France he was. . ." Lafayette trailed off, looking expectantly at John.

"It's not important." Alex glanced back to John who looked annoyed. The other two men picked up on it and decided to head out and back to the dorms, leaving John and Alex to get to know each other on their own. Alexander decided against asking what happened at an airport with Thomas. 

"So you said you were a student too, how long have you gone here?" 

John looked relieved for the change of subject. "First year, actually." 

"And you already have a job?" Alex wanted in on whatever John had going on. "How?" 

"Oh, there's this girl that has a really cool process that she does and she can set you up with pretty much any job, and it works surprisingly fast. You can get a job that'll be easier than most through her system. Want her number?" 

Hamilton had never agreed to anything faster. Laurens jotted it down on a napkin and slid it toward Hamilton. 

"Just call her anytime after it gets dark out. Basically, she'll set up a time and place to meet, and everything after that she tells you." John laughed and pushed a coffee cup across the counter. "She's got, like, a hundred percent success rate. If she thinks you'll do well in a job, you'll get it. That's the end of it. Nobody knows how she does it apparently." 

"Why does it have to be dark?" 

"She says it's more interesting and mysterious." 

"How do you know about her if this is your first year?" Alex asked as he folded the napkin and put it in his back pocket. 

"She came to me." John shrugged like that was the only thing that mattered. "Actually, I'm one of the few that she approached on her own, apparently. Said she was scouting out new kids for the year to up her self-business or something." John glanced at the time on his phone. He picked up a rag and started wiping down the counter. "Hey, do me a favor and flip the sign, will ya?" 

Alex got up and flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed' and went back to get more information on the job ring that was going around from some mystery girl. 

"Well, do you possibly know who she is?" Alexander asked as he sat back down on one of the chairs. 

"Nope. She came up to me offering a job as soon as possible that I would actually enjoy, to some extent, and that wouldn't exhaust me too much. Then boom, I'm serving coffee in this really cute little hipster place! I decided not to question it. Besides, it was took dark when she offered me the job to see her clearly."

John walked to the back of the establishment and into a closet that looked like it belonged to a janitor. It took around thirty seconds before he came back out without the barista's apron and with a light jacket. 

"Come on, I'll walk you back while you ask more questions about this mystery gal." John motioned for Alexander to follow him and held the door open. He flicked off the lights and walked with Alex down the empty sidewalk. 

The sky was inky blue and there was a comfortable chill as the two walked. Alexander was spewing more questions about this girl, John was answering them. Eventually, Alex ran out of questions so he just started asking about John and his friends.

"So. . . I noticed that you seemed annoyed when I was talking about Thomas?" 

"You know that I literally just met you, right? Most people stick to small talk for the first, like, year."

"Yeah, and they learn absolutely nothing about anyone. What am I going to learn from you by asking about your favorite animal?" Alex turned to face John. "Excuse me, sir, what's your favorite animal?" He mocked in an exaggerated nerdy voice.

"The little things matter." John shrugged. "You're amazing at first impressions, you know that?" 

"First impressions are fraudulent and useless." 

"This should be good, how do you figure that?"

"If I want you to like me, why would lying be the first thing I do? That would be setting a relationship up for failure. You'd be getting to know a fake version of me that wouldn't last more than the time it would take for you to get comfortable with it. Then as soon as you  _were_ comfortable with it, I'd have to give it up for something completely different and you'd probably feel stuck because suddenly the person you were used to is gone and was replaced with a potential asshole with no filter. As far as I'm concerned, first impressions are a sure fire way to destroy a relationship before it's even born." Despite John's obvious staring, Hamilton kept his eyes straight ahead. "You might as well get to know the smartass version of me first."    

"You should come by the cafe more often. I don't work tomorrow, maybe we could meet up for something so you can tell me more about the ineffectiveness of first impressions," John laughed. 

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Laurens. Just. . . No more talk about the jobs that I used to do. It was a stupid decision and I can assure you that I never killed anyone." 

John laughed. "We have a deal."


	4. Jefferson

Thomas woke up the next morning naturally. There wasn't any outside force that forced him to be awake which meant that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He sat up and stretched, noticing that his dormmate was still snoring (loudly) on his bed. 

Thomas grabbed his phone off of his desk and checked the time. Since it was after eight, he figured that his sister was already up and at the day. He dialed her cell number and waited for a few seconds while it rang. He didn't expect her to pick up since she might have been in class. Elizabeth refused to leave her friends at school so she could take care of the family. Jane and Mary decided to let her stay in the public school since the younger kids would already be in school and their mother shouldn't get used to people taking care of her all the time. 

To Thomas's surprise, Elizabeth picked up.

" _Hey, Tommy_!" Elizabeth cheered from the other line. 

"I take it you aren't mad at me anymore?" Thomas laughed.

" _Oh no, I still want to punch you for leaving me with four kids to fully take care of, believe me, but school's back up again and it's my senior year! Who wouldn't be excited_?"

"That's fair. How are things going anyway? How are the kids doing?" 

" _They're fine, they're fine. Twins got to school on time, Lucy insisted that she didn't have to go today, which was total bull, but I still got her on the bus. Martha tried to pretend to be sick. I think she was just nervous, going into high school and all. New schools can be scary. Mom hasn't left her room yet but she's still breathing. I'm not entirely sure if that's a plus or minus, but it's there._ " 

"She probably had too much of her 'Grown-Up Juice'," Thomas mocked his mother's voice as best he could and he heard Lizzy laugh from the other end of the phone. 

" _You're probably right. Well, the bell just rang, so I need to go. Don't forget to find that handsome fella or beautiful lady that'll get us onto Easy Street,_ " Elizabeth used her newly found 'mom voice' to scold Thomas. 

"Wouldn't dream of it. Hey, call me after you get home, alright? I still want to hear about your day and all that 'good-big-brother' stuff."

" _You got it! Talk later._ " Elizabeth hung up the phone and left Thomas to listen to his roommate's obnoxious snoring. 

He was going to go back to sleep before his phone started ringing again. Thomas picked up the phone, half expecting to hear Elizabeth telling him to come home. Instead, Mary's loud voice woke him up even more.

" _Hey, little brother! Did I wake you up?_ " She asked. It sounded like she'd been up for hours. 

"Nope, I just got off the phone with Liz, actually. She said things are going great with the kids, but Martha didn't want to go to school today." 

" _New school, it's normal. Anyway, Jane and I are taking you out to breakfast so we show you around. We're already outside your building and it's technically still before the actual time that girls are allowed in the boys' dorms so you're going to have to come out on your own. You coming or what?_ "

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a second to put on a shirt." Thomas held the phone with his shoulder as he hopped off the bed and dug through the drawers under the bed. "Where are we going?"

"If you could kindly shut up so I could stay asleep, that'd be great." Alexander rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head from the other side of the room.

" _Oh, is that your roommate? You should invite him too! He sounds cute._ " Thomas could hear the smile in her voice.

"Not happening. I'm coming down." Thomas hung up the phone and made his way down to where his sisters were waiting. 

The two older girls linked their arms through their younger brother's and guided him around the campus excitedly. The women were arguing over where they should go to get food. As far as Thomas could tell, it was a tie between getting a "McBreakfast" and sitting down for cakes and coffee and the Hip Stir. 

Eventually, they decided to settle the dispute the way any civilized and mature adult would. They let go of Thomas's arms and shot their hands out in a Rock, Paper, Scissors duel. Of course, Thomas was chosen to be the referee because if there is one thing that should never be left to the competitor's to decide, it's if the other was cheating. 

"Best two out of three?" Mary asked when her sister won. 

"What are you five? I won, which means we're going to the cafe." 

"Oh, that's fine, I get it. You're just too scared to go up against me again." Mary shrugged and glanced at Jane, knowing full well that the older woman would fall into the trap.

"I'm not scared, I could beat you again." 

"Prove it." 

"Alright, fine. But if I win again, you're paying." 

"You're on." 

"Anna is more mature than you two, and she's six." 

Jane won again and Mary groaned as she held the door open to the campus coffee shop. 

"You cheated," Mary complained.

"And you're a sore loser." 

Mary and Thomas ordered the drinks while Jane went to find a table. The shop was a lot more occupied than usual, probably because of the earliness, so there were fewer tables available and more of a line. 

The two siblings stood in the line to get their drinks until it was finally their turn to order. They made their way over to the table where Jane was sitting and handed her the same coffee that she always got from any coffee place in existence, plain black. She always said that if she was playing a mom, she might as well get really into the role (that and the cream is always too sweet). 

They sat for around fifteen minutes, sipping on coffee, sweet tea for Thomas, and talking about where to go first. The conversation was more involving the girls since they knew the area more than Thomas did, so he ended nodding occasionally and sipping his coffee. Thomas glanced up at the door as the bell rang, signaling someone walked in. 

It really shouldn't have gotten his attention since the shop was busier than usual but it did and when he looked up, Jefferson saw his roommate walking with a familiar mop of curly hair. 

Thomas ducked his head down and blocked his eyes in a cliche attempt to hide his identity from the two that just came into the shop. 

"Tommy? Something up?" Jane whispered from across the table. 

"You remember John, right?" Thomas pointed his free hand toward the other side of the establishment. "Apparently he goes here." 

Mary made an O shape with her face. "Time to get out, I'm assuming?" 

Thomas nodded and downed the rest of his coffee. He went to get up and out of the store while his sisters finished and paid. He dropped the mug in the bin for the dirty dishes. As soon as he opened the door, someone shoved past him and made fall into someone. 

Of course with the luck and chance that would only be found in the picture perfect land of fanfiction, Thomas fell into John. 

"Oh. Hi." Thomas waved awkwardly. "So I see you met Hamilton." 

"And I've already expressed my sympathy for who he got as a roommate." John crossed his arms and stared ahead at the line. 

"Okay, I know you're still mad at me but was that really necessary?" Thomas felt the annoyance that came with talking to John. He always was great at holding grudges, even for things that happened years in the past. 

"For what you did? I'd say it's more than necessary, Jefferson. What are you even doing here?" 

"I go here."

"No shit, what are you doing _here_? In the cafe? You don't even like coffee." 

"They serve other beverages here,  _Laurens_." Thomas turned to Alexander, who was standing awkwardly. "Careful which people you decide to date, Hamilton, some of them are completely insane." 

Thomas started walking off as his sisters left the cafe, motioning for him to follow. 

"For your information, Jeffersnob, I already have a boyfriend!" John shouted. Everyone in the cafe looked at him like he was crazy for a second before going back to their drinks. 

"Do you really have to be so mean to that poor boy?" Jane asked. "That's not how I raised you to be."

"No, I know. I've just got a reputation to hold up."

"That isn't the way I raised you," Jane repeated. 

Thomas didn't say anything else important for the rest of the tour of the campus, just the occasional location question and nod indicating that he understood what his sisters were talking about. It was already shaping up to be a long year. 


	5. Jefferson

Alex wasted the majority of the day with John and his friends until he decided that the rest of the time could be spent taking a nap at his dorm. 

It worked well enough. When he finally decided that he should get out of bed and actually call the Mystery Girl, the sun was setting. He sat up and stretched, accidentally catching in on some of Thomas's conversations.

"No, Liz, don't do that, it'll just provoke her. Okay, put her on the phone." Thomas waited a few seconds and apparently didn't notice Alex staring at him. "Martha, why don't you want to go back to school?" 

"Who are you talking to?" Alex asked. Thomas held up a finger to silence his roommate. 

"High school kids are dicks, that's a part of life. The more you read, the smarter you get, the more successful you are, but the more people are going to envy you. Okay, that doesn't give you the right to be a dick to Liz on her first day of taking care of you on her own, does it? Imagine how it is for her." 

"Who?" 

Thomas glared at Alex through the side of his eye. 

"I don't care how far away I am, you've been her shadow since you were born, you need to consider that." Thomas waited another few seconds. "Keep in mind that I won't hesitate to ground you, young lady." 

"Is it your kid?"

Thomas put his hand of the speaker. "Hamilton I swear if you don't stop butting into my conversation I will end you. Shut up." He moved his hand. "If I drive six hours just to make sure that you're listening you'll lose a lot more than your freedom for a week. She  _is_ the boss of you and you  _will_ listen to her or I  _will_  drive down there and it  _will not_  be a fun visit. This attitude isn't your usual one, would you rather me ask about your problems and give you a therapy session?" 

It was silent for a second before Thomas started talking again. 

"Great, now go get your homework done. I want you to you apologize to her. Yes, you do have to. Thank you, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I know. I miss you too. Yes, I'll visit soon." Thomas hung up the phone. 

"So was that your kid or. . .?" Alex grabbed the napkin from the back of his pants. 

"Even if it was your business, which it's not, why would I tell you?"

"Because we're going to have to get used to each other if we're going to be staying together." 

Thomas pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "Those were two of my sisters, actually, but I still care about their day so excuse me if that came off as me being an overprotective father," Thomas muttered. 

"Two of? How many sisters do you have?" 

"Six." 

"You have six siblings?!"

"No, I have six  _sisters_. I have," Jefferson hesitated. "seven siblings total. My older sisters go here too, then I have four sisters younger sisters at home, and one younger brother." 

"How old are they?" Thomas glared at Alex again. "I'm just trying to get to know you." 

"Seventeen, fifteen, nine, and five. Those are the ones at home. Here they're Twenty-one and twenty."

"Wait, you said you had five siblings at home. You only gave four ages."

"How did you get into college?" Thomas rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. "Let's think for a second. If there are four ages, and five siblings, what do you think could  _possibly_  be an explanation?"

"Is it--"

"Five-year-old twins. Now if you could just leave me alone, that'd be great."

Alexander was half tempted to stay just to annoy the selfish man in front of him. "Where do you suggest I go then? I haven't exactly been here long enough for many friends, classes haven't started yet--"

"Oh, my God, you talk too much. Go hang out with your boyfriend or something, I don't care as long as you leave me alone!" 

"My what?"

"Laurens. The guy you were hanging out with this morning. Could you shut up now?"

"So you're one of those people."

"Excuse me?" 

"'Boys can't be friends! They can't hang out without being gay for each other!'" Alex threw in dramatic hand waving and spun around in circles for emphasis.

Alexander didn't say anything else as he went out of the dorm. He made a face mocking Thomas as he dialed the number on the napkin. At first, nobody answered. He was just going to call Peter to check in on everything, but as soon as his phone was back in his pocket, it started ringing. The voice on the line sounded familiar, but Alex didn't question it.

The female on the other end asked whether he wanted a conversation or a job, Alex answered 'job'. She gave him directions on where and when to meet: behind the dumpsters for the Hip Stir in fifteen minutes. He glanced at his phone to time it.

 _Classy_ , Alex thought as he made his way back. Behind the cafe looked like anything from a horror movie, a single yellow light illuminated a small circle around the trash, which was overflowing and buzzing with flies. Occasionally, the light would flicker as a large bug flew by or into it. Anything outside of the light was almost too dark to see. 

Hamilton waited for a while. After fifteen minutes, down to the minute, a figure approached him. He immediately regretted showing up after he saw who the mystery girl was. 

"Alexander Hamilton, long time no see," the woman hummed. It was almost too dark to see her signature dark red lipstick, ripped jeans, and bomber jacket. Almost.

"Maria Lewis. You've got to be kidding me." Alexander deadpanned. "You're the one handing out jobs?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about that? Well, technically it's my group of people, but that's not important. I'm the new recruiter here." 

"Who was the last one?"

"Can't tell you unless you want to go missing."Maria shrugged like it was nothing new. Alex was going to test her but a part of him knew that she wasn't joking and that if she told him, he'd actually go missing. 

"Why did you need me to meet you here?" 

"I see you still ask a  _lot_  of questions. If you really want to know, it's mostly for the appeal. You've seen the movies, how many of these situations go down in a McDonald's? Besides," she pointed to a camera on the wall. "that camera doesn't work. It's mostly for show. Now, what job to give you. . ." 

The woman made circles around her former lover, looking over his body like he was for sale. 

"Keep this professional, please?" 

"I'll keep this as professional as our relationship, deal?" Maria snapped. "What sort of income are you hoping for?" 

"As much as possible." Alex was close to begging Maria, which she would probably enjoy, but he kept his pride on. 

"You aren't going to like my suggestion, but you'll love the job, whether you admit it or not." 

"What is it?" 

"Bring the taking up jobs back. You thought you hit it good in high school, man, college kids have more for you to do and they'll pay more if they've got it." 

"Wait, no. I am  _not_  going back to doing those jobs. I made a promise to myself."

"Oh wow, Ham's gone soft. Talking about 'I made a promise to myself,' puh-lease. You made a promise to that Schuyler girl too, remember?"

Hamilton glared at Maria.

She crossed her arms and flicked her head to move her brown hair from her face. "It's not like you're losing anything, those jobs kept you settled. Don't forget the payroll and respect that comes with it." 

"The fear, you mean?"

"Same difference. What'd you say, Hammy?" 

"Would I be working with sleazebags like you?" 

"Watch it. We run this place and we could end you." Maria glared at Alexander so fiercely that he looked nervously at the ground, mostly to avoid meeting her eyes. 

". . . How much would I get?" He asked.

"No saying. It really depends on who's got what and who asks you to do things. Now, depending on weekly income, you'd have to pay a little fee to keep us on board with 'helping' you. We'd have someone collect maybe once a month, so I'd put some back." 

"Nobody said anything about me paying you!" Alex whisper-yelled. In all fairness, he wasn't upset about the payment. He didn't like the way she said 'help'.

"That's because most people don't work for us and not everyone makes enough to pay for our services in the first place. John, the one that introduced you, doesn't. He doesn't make  _nearly_  enough to pay us and still keep himself alive and we aren't heartless. You on the other hand?" Maria laughed. "You take this job and I can guarantee that you will have to pay probably weekly, depending on job count, but you still get a good majority of the money you make. Are you going to take it?" 

"What if I don't?" 

"We go to painful lengths to get people like you these jobs. There aren't any real jobs that a freshman in college can get, especially not any that would help you with whatever situation you're in. We need the money from people like you to stay in business, you don't pay, we go out. Do you really want to take that away from everyone?"

Alex stopped and thought of his family back home. His mom in the hospital, Peter struggling on his own to take care of himself and bills and Rachel. . . The money would probably help him out. Maybe it would even up his mother's chances of survival, even if just a little. There were so many possibilities for just one slightly embarrassing job. Or a few.

"Hey, Hamilton, we're sort of on a time-crunch. I have other clients to tend to so I need an answer here, are you taking or not?" The woman tapped an imaginary watch on her wrist to emphasize her point. 

"Yeah. I'll take it." Alex felt some of his dignity drain away, but it didn't matter. The majority of the money would be going toward his family. An almost sinister smile spread across the woman's face.

"Great," Maria pulled out her wallet and a grey iPhone. "This is your work phone, that's it. We've got everything taken care of on it so far, but you are  _not_ to use it for anything else other than service calls and contact to our organization. And I'm not technically supposed to do this, but here." She handed Alex a hundred fifty dollars in cash. He looked at her suspiciously then down at the money. 

"Relax, this is just from a friend to a friend."

"We aren't friends." 

"I think you'd want to be friends with the girl handing you over a hundred dollars in cash for literally no reason and the one that just got you an easy enough job that'll pay about as much. Oh, and talking you back into taking jobs from other people again."

"Seriously? That's what you're going to say to get me to take the money?

 "What can I say except you're welcome?" She waved the money in front of him. "Just take it. I'm breaking at least five rules for you here." 

Alex took the money and something occurred to him. "What if I want out?" 

"You really think you're going to want out of this?" Maria asked, her voice almost amused. "Then you come to us. We'll take care of it quietly. You aren't to talk to anyone about the organization, no matter what, and we  _do_  have ways to know if you do."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean? How did you know that John was the one that introduced me? And why do you just have a phone taken care of already?"

Maria winked. "You know what they say, ignorance is bliss." She started walking away before she said one last thing. "Oh! Don't worry about getting the word around. I'll take care of that. I'd say within the next few days you should expect at least one call for you. 

Alexander groaned internally as he watched her walk away. He thumbed through the wad of cash in his hand. It was mostly ten dollar bills and the snarky face on the money seemed to be mocking him. Saying, 'ooh, my man, only a day in and you're already screwing yourself over. Whatchu gon' do now kid?' 

"Oh shut up, stupid Miranda." Alex shoved the money into his pocket and stomped back to his building. 


	6. Jefferson

The day that classes started was a day that Thomas was looking forward to and also dreading at the same time. He wanted to get out of the dorm and interact with people that weren't his constantly bickering sisters or his extremely annoying dormmate. He could have gone out to meet different people, but that would make for awkward conversation and randomly approaching someone. Neither of those things seemed very appealing to him at all. 

He didn't exactly expect anything all that special, but apparently, his sisters had completely different plans. Thomas woke up to his phone ringing and Jane's calm and collected voice being ruled out by Mary's excited one. They both insisted on walking Thomas to his very first college class ever. 

"Did you get an alright rest?" Jane asked as they walked across the campus. 

"Oh yeah, it was great," Thomas groaned sarcastically.  

"Oh, jeez. Here comes the insult train," Mary laughed. "Who was it this time? Roommate? Rabbits next door already getting it on?"

"Mary, please, at least attempt to be a good influence with an innocent sense of humor." Jane chided. 

Mary just shrugged and they both looked at Thomas, obviously expecting an answer. 

"No," he said. "it's not any rabbit neighbors, but my roommate, on the other hand? He doesn't know how to go to sleep so he's up all night typing and if he does happen to fall asleep, which apparently is less than an every other day occurrence, he's probably the most restless sleeper I've ever seen. He's always turning and talking and it already drives me insane."

"Ooh, what does he say?" 

"Mary!" Jane glared at her sister from the other side of Thomas. Mary held her hands up defensively.

"What, I'm curious!" 

"I don't know, I usually just put the pillow over my head and try to get some damn sleep. It doesn't work."

"Poor Tommy, so sleep deprived. And it's only his first day of classes! I think you're setting new records here, little brother." Despite him being slightly taller, Mary ruffled her brother's hair. Thomas groaned and un-ruffled his hair, which just ruffled it more. 

"Could we leave my hair out of this?" He groaned. 

"Tommy, my boy, you haven't even done anything real with your hair since you told Janey to stop messing with it because, and I quote," Mary cleared her throat and did her best 'Thomas' impression. "'it's my hair, Jane, I'm old enough to do what I want with it!'" 

"I don't sound like that." 

Mary laughed and kept going with her exaggerated impression. "Oh I really think you do, Tommy. I'd say I am doing a hella good job, wouldn't you say Janey?" Mary put her hands on her head with her fingers sticking out to imitate Thomas's hair. "Ooh look at me, I have hair bigger than this campus, ooh, doodle doodle do, hella hella hella."

"Oh very mature, you can stop now," Thomas grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Oh very mature, you can stop now," Mary mocked.

"Okay joke's over, knock it off."

Mary repeated him.

"Jane! Tell her to stop!" 

"Jane! Tell him to stop!" 

"Mary I swear--"

"Thomas I swear--"

"Mary still cries while watching Toy Story!" 

"Thomas still cries while watching Toy Story!"

"I do not!" 

"I do not!"

"Jane!" 

"Jane!" 

"Alright, both of you are being immature. Mary, stop acting like a two-year-old, Thomas stop tattling." Jane gave both of her siblings a motherly glare. 

"But she's--"

"Tattling. Stop it."

"But--"

Jane pointed a finger at Thomas and he stopped talking. Nothing is scaring than the mom point and Jane was the master of it.

"Good. Now we are going to play the silent game, since you two want to act like toddlers, until we get to the building." 

Their conversation ended until they approached the right building, as promised. Jane took one more look at the sheet of paper with Thomas's schedule printed on it to make sure they had the right one. She gave Thomas the directions to get to the right room and went into mom-mode, making sure he had everything, the right books, pencils, notebooks, she even went as far to ask if he had to "go potty" before he went inside. 

"Jane, I'll be fine, I can handle getting to my class without you asking me that." Thomas laughed. Most people would have hated their older sibling for asking them about their bathroom needs, but Thomas knew that Jane only wanted to make sure he was ready for his first legitimate day as an adult in college.

"I know, I know. But in all fairness, you were just acting like a four-year-old a few minutes ago." Jane shrugged and straightened Thomas's shirt. "Okay, now if the other kids are mean just tell them--"

"That I'm an adult and still not in kindergarten?" Thomas smiled. "It's just a class, we're probably not even doing much today. Honestly, I'm just hoping that Hamilton kid doesn't happen to be in the same  _building._ "

"Do you know what he's majoring in?" Jane asked. She straightened Thomas's bag on both of his shoulders, moving it from where it was hanging from just one.

"I have made it my mission to not talk to him unless I really have to."

"That's no way to go about life, Tommy." Jane crossed her arms and stared her brother down. "At least try to talk to him? Who knows, maybe he's our ticket to Easy Street, as Lizzy would say. You did promise her that."

"Sorry, I can't hear you over the excitement of the class," Thomas said as he waved to his sisters. "I'll meet up with you two for lunch, all right?"

They nodded in agreement. Thomas ran inside with Jane yelling reminders after him that he really didn't need. He appreciated her caring, though, despite not having much of an adult role model growing up, Jane made sure that all of her siblings had someone to look up to. She never let any of them call her 'Mom' though. The youngest of the siblings usually did, but Thomas remembered Jane shutting it down immediately. She wasn't a mom, she was a sister. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a sister doing a job that nobody else was going to do. 

Thomas shook his head as he walked into the right room. He would be sure to thank her for being a sister and nothing more, nothing less when he had time. 

For the time being, he needed to find a seat, grab some papers and learn about political science. Thomas glanced around the room. He didn't recognize anyone straight away out the many faces that were scattered around the room. 

Thomas took a seat that was closest to the door and pulled out a notebook. It didn't look like any professor was planning on starting class soon so he decided to plan out what he thought the class would be like. After thirty seconds, he decided to write what the class would be like if it were a radio show hosted by some guy that was constantly questioning the existence of random things and in love with a scientist. It ended up being more of a short story type of thing more than it was an outline. 

"That's pretty good," someone said from next to him. 

Thomas jumped and slammed the notebook closed. He glared at whoever decided to pop up next to him. 

"Who are you, exactly?" Thomas continued glaring to look intimidating. The woman next to him didn't seem to care. 

"Angelica Schuyler. You are?"

"Thomas Jefferson." 

"Well, Thomas Jefferson, that's a pretty interesting thing you've got there." Angelica looked down at the paper again. "But you may want to try adding a female role along with a male one, it attracts more attention. You know, adding in female empowerment tears down a little more of the patriarchy, even if it is a small contribution." 

"No offense, but all that patriarchy feminist stuff isn't my thing. Especially in drabble that no one will ever even read." Thomas shrugged and opened the notebook before ripping the page out. He glanced back at the woman next to him who looked like she heard the most aggravating news of her life.

She stared for a second. Then for a minute. Then, without another word, she walked away with her nose in the air and her hair swinging behind her. Obviously, she was not happy with anything that just came out of Thomas's mouth. She sat down with some people who Thomas assumed were her friends and glanced back at him a couple times before laughing with the other girls. 

First ten minutes of his first class in college and he was already getting on people's bad side. That usually didn't come until way later after a ton of flirting and it was more typical for him to get a date out of it.

A professor walked to the front of the room and started the class, while Thomas was still confused as to  _why_  he got slapped. As the professor went on about what the class would be about and what would be expected of the students, someone sat behind Thomas, furiously scribbling in a notebook already. When the professor turned around, Jefferson stole a glance behind him to see the obnoxious man or woman that was already looking better than everyone else. 

 _Of course, it's Alexander Hamilton,_ he thought.  _Why wouldn't it be Alexander Hamilton?_  


	7. Hamilton

Alexander walked into the lecture hall as silently as he possibly could to avoid getting stared at. He wasn't sure how many people knew about the favors and a part of him hoped that John was just being dramatic when he said that half of the campus was afraid of him, but the stares that he got when he sat down told him that at least some people knew about them. A few people looked back at and stared while they whispered to their friends. The grey cellphone in his pocket seemed to weigh more than it was worth in his pocket. Hamilton wasn't sure why he brought it, but he was starting to regret it. It was just a reminder that what he was doing probably wasn't the best choice. 

"I heard he killed someone," someone whispered. 

"Oh please."

Hamilton kept his head down. The stares seemed to burn into his soul. It occurred to Alex that maybe Maria held up her end of the bargain and got the word around campus. He hadn't gotten any calls yet, so he wasn't so sure that was the case. 

As Alexander waited, he decided to see if he knew anyone in the class. Some of the people looked familiar from his old high school but there was one face that stood out from everyone else's. Really, it was her hair that gave her away, long, tight curls bounced as she jumped from seat to seat, greeting various other people that she might have known. 

Eventually, the woman found her way to Alexander's seat. 

"Is that who I think it is?" Angelica sighed as she sat next to Alex. 

"Angelica Schuyler. I didn't know you went here," he muttered. He hadn't talked to any of the Schuylers since the incident. He tried to make eye contact with her but she had the same dark eyes and Eliza, which was where the resemblance ended, but whenever he looked at her eyes, he saw a heartbroken girl after finding out about an affair. 

"To answer your question, yes. She does go here as well. Of course, she's trying to get a license in child services. She wants to help kids bloom into functioning members of society." Angelica laughed like she wasn't sitting next to her sister's ex. "She always did have a soft spot for kids."

"Uh, yes, she did. But I didn't ask if she went here." 

"No, but you were thinking it." Angelica's expression was suddenly sober. "You really hurt her, you know. She's burned every note that you've ever given her and she keeps saying that you deserve the same, which I agree with."

Alexander flinched at his former "favorite older sister"'s harsh tone. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I heard that you got involved with the underground job ring that's going around and I know which job you were assigned. I'm here to be your first customer." Angelica reached into the small purse that was hanging at her side. She pulled out a wad of cash. "There's two hundred here."

Alexander stared at the money. Again, he was reminded of someone else. This time his mind flashed to the night with Maria when she handed him the wad of cash.

 _Relax,_  she'd said.  _From a friend to a friend._

Alexander looked back up at Angelica hopefully, she rolled her eyes.

"It isn't for nothing," she muttered.

Alex's heart dropped for a second. Of course, it wasn't for nothing. "What's it for then?"

"I want you to lose all of our numbers. I don't want you talking to me, or Peggy, or Eliza. As much as I want to be your friend nothing comes above them, and I want to punch your face in for what you did to my sister. Eliza was trusting and kind before she met you, and you took that trust and showed her that trust isn't something that everyone deserves." 

Alexander was going to say something, but Angelica was talking again before he could. 

"You have invented a new kind of stupid and I hope that you know that."

She threw the money onto the table and left with a huff of annoyance. Alexander had to admit that he was expecting a little more of a friendly welcome, maybe news that Eliza had forgiven him, but he knew that it was far from fair for him to expect that.

Alex pulled out a notebook and began writing to somebody random. The only name that came to his mind was Thomas Jefferson since that's who Angelica was talking to as he wrote, so he addressed the letter to his roommate. He started writing and, as usual, couldn't stop. It's not like anything that he wrote was really different. They all recounted his life and what he believes will happen, added in with the new discoveries and events of the day.

Alexander, along with the rest of the room, jumped and looked up when a sharp  _SMACK!_  sound could be heard throughout the room. Alex noticed Thomas's face being turned at an awkward position and snickered to himself as he kept scribbling. 

Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad after all.   
  
  
  


After the day's classes were over and he had all the information that he needed at least through the first week, Alexander decided to get more information on 'the organization' from John, since he was the one to introduce Alex to it. Granted there wasn't much of a chance that John really knew anything else, it was still worth a shot in Alexander's eyes. 

The met up at the cafe since John would have had to go to his shift afterward anyway. That and caffeine is and was the savior to all. There was no convincing Alexander otherwise.

Alex got there first so he went ahead and ordered a drink while he waited. The plan was to snoop through the 'business phone' that Maria gave to him to see exactly what was on it, but Thomas sat down in front of him.

"Who're you waiting for?" He asked as he sipped from his cup. 

"None of your business." Alexander turned his attention back to the phone in his hands. 

"Is it John?"

"Wow now look who's being a pest," Alex growled as he glanced up from the phone. In Alex's eyes, Thomas looked as spoiled as ever. With his magenta sweater vest, a white shirt underneath, khaki pants. . . Nobody wears that unless they're the snobbiest person alive. 

"I'm trying to be friends with the person I'm stuck living with, work with me," Thomas deadpanned. 

"Fine. I'm waiting for John, what does it matter?" Alex spat. Then curiosity took over before he could think of a clever insult. "What happened between you two anyway?"

It was Thomas's turn to glare. 

"I'm just trying to be friends with the person I'm stuck living with," Alex mocked.

"Fine," Jefferson groaned. "So, I went to France for a while on a school trip and I made friends with this guy, Gilbert. He introduced me to his two friends, one of which was John and we sort of hit it off, actually." 

"And that's why you hate each other?"

"If you would shut up for two seconds I'd get to that." Thomas sighed and leaned back as far as he could in the booth. "We saw each other for a while, it wasn't serious or anything, but I've got this thing."

"Thing?"

"Flirtation can get you places, so I flirt with everyone, shut up."

"You don't flirt with me." 

"I don't like you and I don't care what you think about me, now for the last time,  _shut up_. Unless you don't want to know what happened?" Alexander pretended to zip his mouth, lock it, and then proceeded to throw away the imaginary key. "Thank you. Anyway, I was flirting with someone and it turned into something a little more than that and. . ."

"And he cheated on me. Could you move now, Jeffershit?" Both men turned their heads to look at who joined the conversation. John stood with his arms crossed and glaring down at Thomas. 

Thomas rolled his eyes and turned back to his roommate. "Like I said, it wasn't serious, but  _some people_  get too attached too easily." 

With that being said, Thomas stood up and shoved past John until he was out of the building, sipping on his drink the entire way. 

John muttered a swear and sat down where Thomas was, looking less than amused. 

"So," Alex said awkwardly as he drummed his fingers on the table. "I have a few questions." 

John's mood seemed to lighten slightly and he nodded for his newfound friend to continue.

"Alright, so first off, how did you know about the favors that I did? In high school I mean. I don't think I ever saw you around." 

"Peggy Schuyler, she used to tell me about that stuff all the time via text messages. She went to your school, I guess." John shrugged.

"What about everyone else, how do they know?" 

"Some of them went to your high school, others probably heard it around. The gossip here is practically insidious. I don't really know, though, I only know what Peggy told me."

"That's another thing, how do you know the Schuylers?"

"They came down to my hometown once and I bumped into Peggy at an ice cream place. I accidentally knocked hers on the ground, so I offered to buy her a new one, we started talking about something or other, and then we're best friends. I always got most of the details when a boyfriend didn't work out with one of her sisters. There was one that cheated on Eliza. Peggy never told me what his name was, just that it was mostly unexpected and really upsetting for everyone. Eliza especially didn't deserve that. . ." John trailed off and shook his head. 

 _He doesn't know_ , Alex thought.

That's why John didn't punch him in the face immediately, especially with what apparently happened with Thomas. The pang of guilt that usually came with thinking about Eliza came back and Alex wanted to sink until he disappeared. 

There are very few things that Alexander can say that he  _truly_ regretted, the cheating situation definitely made the top of the list. He wasn't going to go around telling people that it wasn't his fault because it was. It wasn't just Maria's fault, it wasn't in any way Eliza's fault, and he definitely shared in the blame. If anything, he held the majority of it.

"Any other questions?" John asked. 

Hamilton sifted through his brain. He had at least fifty other questions that he wanted to ask but he couldn't figure out how to put any of them into words. Half of them had to do with the Organization and what John knew about it, but the carefree attitude that Laurens had seemed really indicative as to just how much he knew, which is to say, not much. The other half had to do with him and Jefferson but, as much as he hated to admit it, he'd probably get more information from Thomas. 

"No, I think that's it for now." he shrugged. 

"Let me know if you need anything else." John smiled and went to get ready for his shift while Alex went back to his dorm. He'd end up going back to the cafe if Jefferson was already in the dorm, but he figured he'd try anyway.


	8. Hamilton

After an hour-long argument with Thomas, Alexander found himself typing away on his laptop as usual with his roommate grumbling every now and then about having to buy himself noise-canceling headphones. Alex agreed that it was definitely a waste of money, but he wasn't going to buy them and he wasn't going to change his schedule so Thomas could get what he wanted. That's probably what he was used to and Alexander wasn't planning on treating him like a spoiled three-year-old. 

Scratch that, that's exactly what his plan was, but he wasn't going to  _continue_ to spoil him with whatever he wanted like everyone else probably did. Sometimes, he would start typing extremely obnoxiously just to annoy the other man. 

Was that childish? Yes.  
Was he going to stop? No.  
Was it really necessary? Well, that was dependant on who you asked. Alexander would definitely say that is and was more than necessary and Thomas would say the exact opposite. 

Alex looked down at the time and decided that it was late enough for him to go to sleep without waking up multiple times throughout the night because of something or other. He shut the laptop down and got comfortable under the covers to go to sleep. 

Of course, though, his phone chimed on the bed next to him. A wave of panic washed over him as he realized that the only person that really texted him was Peter and he had already called a few hours earlier, which meant that if it  _was_ his cousin then there was something serious that happened with his mother.

Alex picked up the phone and stared at the screen for a second before realizing that there weren't any new messages. He was confused for a moment before his eyes traveled to the drawer where he kept the "work phone". He switched the phones in his hands and went to the messages for the much nicer phone. Sure enough, there was a red notification over the instant messaging system. Hesitantly, Alex opened it. 

_From: Unknown  
_ _building 4 room 1782. desk under the left bed. take the books. hide them. youll be paid when its done. 300._

Looking at the number three hundred made Alex weirdly excited. There wasn't anything it could be other than a paycheck and with as tacky as the job was, that seemed pretty good. 

Hamilton tried to hide any emotion that he was feeling, which was mostly excitement, for some reason. He glanced at Thomas's bed, glad to see that it was just a dark bundle of blankets. If he were awake then it'd just strike up a conversation about where Alexander was going in the middle of the night and what would happen if he got caught out after curfew. It wasn't a conversation that Alex wanted to have. 

He grabbed a pair of shoes as he tiptoed out of the room. The favor seemed trivial, at the very least, but he had to expect people to not take him seriously at first. He needed to prove that he was willing to do dumb things because that's the job that he was assigned. It didn't matter what the favor or what he'd have to do, that wasn't a part of the job, he just had to do what other people needed. 

But then there was the part of the job that seemed just slightly less trivial. Whoever he was taking from, they'd have to buy totally new books. That alone is enough to put someone through more stress than it's really worth.

A wave of guilt hit Alex and he considered going back, getting a normal job, but then he thought of what Maria had said. He needed the extra money that came with these favors, they paid more than any other "regular" job that he'd be able to find. . .

 _Great, now I'm listening to Maria._ Alex thought as he crept down the halls. That was definitely something that he thought he'd never do. 

In all technicality, though, he was listening to her back when the situation with her and Eliza was going on. She told him to stay, he said 'how long'. It was kind of pathetic. 

Alex shook the thought away and tried to focus on the job. 

He walked out of the building using the back door to avoid the obvious exit at the front. That and he heard two guys talking about how the back door doesn't lock so it'd be perfect for sneaking out. It was a shot in the dark but it worked. He stopped for a second to slip on his shoes before he continued down the sidewalk toward the other dorm building. 

Unlike the other building, this one's back door was locked. Luckily for Alex, he grew up on using hair pins as lock picks. He pulled one that was holding his from his face and blew the strands away as the fell. He jiggled the pin until he heard a barely audible  _click_  from inside the lock. He pushed the door open. 

As he walked the halls to get a feel of which numbers were where Alexander felt a familiar surge of adrenaline. He would either get caught or do it again, either one was pretty likely, especially given how rusty his skills were. His footsteps seemed heavier than what they were the year before and he felt like someone was behind him, ready to catch and punish him for being out and sneaking around in the middle of the night. 

Luckily for Alex, the room was one flight of stairs away from the main floor. He found it and gently turned the knob to see if the door was locked. It wasn't. As quickly as possible, he swung the door open to avoid the squeaking hinges. Dim light flooded the room but the beds were blocked by walls so it wasn't an issue whether or the occupants would wake up. Alexander found himself envying the large loft beds that had desks underneath them. His dorm was cramped because of the small desks and beds. He made his way slowly to the desk on the left side of the room and picked up each of the books. 

 _How can anyone lug these things around?!_ Alex thought as he balanced the books under one arm. 

Hamilton cringed as the floor creaked under his foot. The extra weight was not helping him get back into the swing of things. Eventually, after what felt like years of testing the floor before stepping, Alex was back in the hall, using his free hand to swing the door closed. Of course, he had to slow down to avoid slamming it. He made his way back down the hall and down the stairs to the main floor. 

As soon as he was outside, he locked the door and realized that he didn't have anywhere to hide the books. 

_Besides, that camera doesn't work. It's mostly for show._

"The cafe!" Hamilton said out loud. He cringed and looked around to see if anyone heard. The campus still looked dead. 

He ran down the sidewalk to the cafe and slowed to a walk as he reached the back of the establishment. One by one, he placed the books under the dumpster. He was only supposed to hide the books, not necessarily destroy them. Though if they were caught in the rain. . . 

Alex didn't think too much of it. He pulled the iPhone from his pocket as soon as he was done and texted the unknown number that it was done. 

With his first job done (his first  _real_  job, not the one Angelica gave him), Alexander went back to his dorm, keeping in mind that the back door would be unlocked. 

As soon as he was back into his room, he collapsed on the bed and hugged the pillow. 

"Where did you go?" Thomas asked from across the room. He sounded annoyed and half asleep.  

"I went for a walk, go back to sleep."

"It's past curfew." 

"Which means it's past your bedtime, go back to sleep."

"You're a dick."

"And you really need to mind your own business," Alex groaned as he flipped to face the wall. "Now shut up so I can finally get some sleep." 

"Oh, how the tables have--"

"Yeah, you're just wasting your own time here, I hope you know that. You need your 'beauty rest' or whatever and I can go days at a time without sleeping. Who's losing here?" 

". . . Shut up." 

"Now I can't. Maybe you should use your universal flirtation skills to put me to sleep." 

"Roses are red, violets aren't blue, if you don't shut up, I will probably kill you."

"Wow, you call those skills?"

"Hamilton--" Thomas growled, getting progressively more frustrated with Alexander. 

"All right! I'm sleeping now." Alex couldn't help but smile as he finally fell asleep. Anything annoying to Jefferson was something amusing to Hamilton.


	9. Jefferson

As a few weeks went by, the lessons in Thomas's classes slid by. Eventually, he had to go to the campus library to study for an upcoming exam. He thought that he could ace it no sweat, but if Jane found out that her younger brother went in to take his very first exam without studying, she'd probably kill him. 

Literally. 

With a pencil. 

Just for the irony of a pencil being the murder weapon.

It's just a better situation if Thomas went to study, that's the point. 

He went inside and the atmosphere reminded him of somewhere from a fairy tale. Old book smell and the soft humming from the librarian being the most obvious things that Thomas could point out. 

Despite paper being almost useless, large shelves were lined neatly together, creating rows of towering stories. Those seemed way better than the used textbooks in his bag. Paperbacks were stacked next to hardbacks and instead of being completely disorganized and absolutely hideous, it was actually pretty great. Impressive.

After using most of his self-control, Thomas set his bag down at the table that was closest to the shelves. A part of him knew that it was a horrible idea and he'd probably use books as an excuse to not study, but he figured that it was a great exercise in self-control and responsibility that was desperately needed. The musty smell of the books was comforting and Thomas barely opened his textbook before he was ready to wander through the aisles. 

Thomas found it harder to focus on his lesson than he was expecting. After a while of rereading the same paragraph at least sixteen times, his eyes were wandering all around the building. Anywhere from the rotting wood to the attractive librarian behind the desk was way more--

The librarian was gone. 

Thomas's mind immediately went to what could have possibly happened to the librarian. Abducted by aliens that were interested in the dying paper industry and transforming into a literal bookworm were his favorite scenarios. They were both put to death as someone walked by though. 

"Already have an exam?"

Thomas jumped and turned to see the librarian leaning on a rickety metal cart with even more books stacked on top. 

"You're taking notes wrong." the librarian started again. He sat down in front of Thomas and pointed to the bullet points scattered around the page. "You need to organize it more." 

"And who might you be?" Thomas leaned his chin in his palm and smirked at the man in front of him. 

"James Madison, apparently your note-taking savior. Now, bullet points are fine but you really need to have headers that you can put like-notes under so you can take a quick glance to find what you need. Columns also help--" 

"Wait, you aren't going to ask who I am?"

"I can't say that I exactly care. You'll also save room if you cut out unimportant words, the ones that really don't add anything other than extra letters and hand cramps. And conjunctions can go." 

Something about the man in front of him made Thomas think back to elementary school. Specifically, playing kickball and soccer and basically anything that had to do with feet and sports balls during gym class. Suddenly something dawned on Thomas and his flirtation went to dorky laughter. 

"Well if you don't like my methods then you can just say--"

"No, no, I just remember that you used to come to class in the middle of summer with your own box of tissues because of your allergies in elementary school." Thomas almost laughed harder when James's confused face looked up from the notes. "Oh yeah, and you had to sit during gym, and you would read books that nobody'd even heard of. Some kid kicked a soccer ball at your face. That was first grade, I think." 

"Wait a minute. . ." James squinted and looked at Thomas.

Jefferson thought he was going to come up with his own fun memory of when they were kids, maybe even throw in a hug. 

Instead, James said, "Wasn't that you? That kicked the ball in my face." 

"I would never! You don't even know who I am, how can you prove that I did it?"

"The teacher made you walk me to the nurse to make sure my nose wasn't broken, Thomas. I remember the obnoxious grin."

"So you do remember me!"

"Regrettably." James pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know I only moved in sixth grade? Up until that point, you didn't leave me alone."

"So then why didn't you recognize me when I walked in?" 

"Mostly because we were ten. Literally eight years ago was the last time I saw you."

"Alright, let's start this again." Thomas sat up straighter and held his hand out over the table. "Jemmy James, haven't seen your face in a while!"

James couldn't help but smile as he shook Thomas's hand. "What brings you up to New York? Did you just come up for the college?"

"Actually, yeah. Jane and Mary go here and they've got the program that I need so here I am, live and in the flesh. Mostly alive, actually." 

"Meaning?"

"My sleep schedule has me dead inside."

James made a face that told Thomas to continue. 

"My roommate is an absolute snobby asshat. Everything  _has_  to go his way all the time. He's always got to stay up at least until two in the morning typing or writing or doing something that's just loud enough to be annoying. I can't remember the last time I got more than six hours of sleep and I need at least eight, man!" 

"Sounds rough," James sighed. 

"Yeah, I had to get myself noise-canceling headphones." Thomas rubbed his eyes, the mention of sleep making him want to just lay back down and catch up. 

"Who do you have, anyway?" James laced his fingers together to form a platform to rest his chin on. He seemed to forget about the cart of books that was sitting next to the table. 

"Hamilton. I think his first name was Alexander or something, but I just call him Hamilton whenever I do absolutely  _have_  to talk to him." Thomas shrugged, not really seeing the big deal. James on the other hand. . . 

"You're living with Alexader Hamilton!?" He screeched. 

"You aren't very quiet for a librarian." 

"That's good considering I just help out around here. Anyway, how are you not worried about that? Or at least for your own safety. . ." 

"What are you talking about? The guy's like two feet tall with the body of a twelve-year-old." Despite the joke, Thomas was suddenly worried. "Why, what happened?" 

"You seriously haven't heard?" 

"If I had, I wouldn't be asking," he deadpanned. 

"Oh. Right. So when I moved up here, I went to the same high school as Hamilton. To say he was sketchy would be an understatement. He came in the middle of like October during eleventh grade, I think, but by the time New Year's came around, the entire school was either afraid of him or respected him to the point of obedience." James shook his head.

"How?"

"He would do these favors for people around the school. It didn't matter what it was or how illegal it was, he'd do it for the right price. Nobody ever tested his limits, though. I don't think anyone wanted to see how far he would really go. That or no one had the money to." Madison leaned in closer across the table and lowered his voice. "Some people say that one of the favors went wrong and someone actually died." 

"Alright, I'm calling bullshit. If that were true, how did he get away with it?" 

"No clue, I'm just spreading the word on what people think happened. As far as I know, he won't talk about it to anyone. I heard someone ask him about it during senior year and I've never seen a kid so scared. 

"Maybe I'll cure your curiosity and I'll ask him. I need to get back anyway," Thomas said as he stood up. James helped him gather the incomplete notes and textbooks. "Thanks for the help. It was nice catching up, Jemmy!" 

"Why won't you let that name die!" Thomas heard James yell from inside the building as he left. 

He let out a snicker and headed back the way he came to get some information out of his roommate for once. 

* * *

 

Thomas felt an overwhelming sense of confidence and victory as he opened the door to his room. He hadn't even confronted Hamilton about the dirt that he found but he felt like he'd beaten the shorter man in a game of really competitive chess. If the game of chess was revolved around finding the dirtiest choice for some form of blackmail before the other player could take you down. Jefferson was fairly sure that his roommate wasn't planning on taking him down or whatever, but it was still better to have the dirt and not need it, right? That and the most the Thomas knew about  _the_  Alexander Hamilton was that he had a name and almost never slept for more than a nap's length at a time. 

The first thing that he noticed when he walked into the room fully was that it was lacking a certain other presence that was necessary for the confrontation. It was a mild inconvenience. He could just sit and wait for Alexander to come back. 

Thomas glanced on the cracked screen of his phone for the time, it was only three o'clock, so he shouldn't have to wait for very long.

So he waited. 

And he waited. 

And waited. 

And waited. 

And then what happened next? He waited some more.

Eventually, he fell asleep waiting. It almost seemed like one of those stereotypical romance movie scenes where the lonely wife is waiting on the porch of her two-bedroom house with her hound dog for her husband to come home from the war. Of course, the was no real cliched end to that story. It's a pretty even split between he comes home and they hug and live long happy lives and she waits there until finally, she sees his ghost when it's her time to go.

Needless to say, the unplanned nap was more than welcome, but of course, it just  _had_  to be cut short by the center of sleep deprivation himself whisper yelling at someone.

"No! Put the box over there-- No, not there! Laf, you gotta-- Oh, good morning Thomas, I got a T.V."

Thomas looked between his old friend from his Paris trip, his roommate, and the small television that was barely balancing on a shelf. It was just big enough to have its own VCR player. 

"Uh, yes, good morning, Thomas! I helped him get the T.V."

Instead of saying anything, Thomas just gave them a thumbs up and turned over to go back to sleep. It wasn't until he heard the door close that he remembered why he fell asleep in the first place. 

"Hamilton!" He shouted as he sat up. He looked at his roommate who was perched on the edge of his bed staring intently at the new addition to the otherwise dull room. "Alexander." 

"What do you want, I'm trying to watch Mulan." 

"I want to ask you about something." 

"You'd better hurry up and ask it before a song starts. Whether you're talking or not, I will sing along." 

"Well, you know James Madison right?" 

"I met him a couple times."

"He told me something interesting today. Something about you doing everyone else's dirty work for money in high school?" For some reason, Thomas started getting annoyed. "Were you seriously too lazy to get a real job that you had to do what other people wouldn't for money?"

As he said it out loud, it didn't seem so weird that he was getting annoyed. Thomas grew up around two older sisters that had to go multiple nights with no sleep because they had to get two jobs each to keep their family alive, on top of school work and making sure their siblings had everything they needed. Here this prick was that was probably just another teen that wanted mall-money but was too lazy to hold a real job.

"You have no idea what you're talking about and if you would like to keep the ability to talk, you may want to drop the subject." Alex glared through the side of his eye. Thomas felt like he'd really struck a vein since the most iconic Mulan song was playing and Hamilton didn't so much as bob his head to the beat. Nobody can resist the beat.

"I think I have some sort of idea," he continued. "You didn't want to deal with a stable work schedule that would interrupt whatever plans that you wanted to make with friends or whatever. You wanted a job that you could bend to your will and do whatever you wanted with."

"I actually needed the extra money that came with picking up jobs, asshat."

"Oh yeah? Why? What was  _so_ important that you felt the need to just not get a real job?"

"That's not your business."

"So you just wanted more money for less work?"

"No, I needed the money in general. You don't know shit about me, Jefferson, stop trying to figure it out." Hamilton turned his attention fully back to the movie. 

"What about the person that supposedly died, huh? You think they cared--"

Alexander stood up and stabbed the power button on the T.V. with his finger so hard that it probably should have been broken. 

"Like I said, you have absolutely no fucking clue what you're talking about, so stop talking about it," Alex growled. He stormed out of the room and Thomas was left with even fewer answers than before. 

He leaned back onto his pillow, enjoying the quiet from having scared his roommate off. With any luck, he could just keep doing that and Alexander would get so sick of it that he'd request a totally new one and then Thomas was home free for a better roommate. 

With that thought in his mind and close to no guilt about pushing the other man to the point of storming out, Thomas went back to sleep.


	10. Hamilton

If there was one thing that really irritated Hamilton, it was that everyone that he'd met already knew about the jobs that he used to do. Still does, now, but that's beside the point. They never asked about what he's doing  _now_ , they just bring up that he "probably killed someone."

 _Funny how everyone knows how that story goes when I'm the only one that was there,_ he thought. 

To be clear, he did  _not_  take on the jobs because he was lazy or just a bad person. He figured that if he took up jobs from other people instead of working fast food, he could put more money toward his mom's treatment and food for him and his cousin. If anything, that makes him less selfish, right?

Of course, Peter wasn't the most approving person when it came to the jobs, especially in the end when people really got the idea that there wasn't much their classmate wouldn't do for money. The jobs either got dangerous or more illegal and Peter got more and more apprehensive with each job. 

Which led to the last one that Alexander did in high school. 

Nobody died, that was a definite. He still somewhat interacted with the person that 'died', actually. 

Alex shook the memory from his head. Just because no one died, doesn't mean that he didn't feel at least somewhat bad. Someone still got hurt, that was enough to throw off his entire system. 

He stormed around the campus for around an hour, barely paying attention to where he was going. Before he knew it, he was on the other side of campus, the end with all of the fraternities and stereotypical things like that. He was planning on going back to his dorm room before he ran into someone, literally. 

"Hey!" The man turned around and almost decked Hamilton square in the jaw.  "Who are you? I haven't seen you around here." 

"I was on a walk."

"That really doesn't answer my question, does it? Who are you?" The man stared Alexander down like he was an alpha wolf being challenged. 

Alex lifted himself slightly on the balls of his feet to look taller before answering. "Alexander Hamilton. Who are you?" His voice sounded like it was supposed to be threatening but there really isn't much threatening that a five foot seven guy could really do. The other man seemed to catch it, though.

"Your worst nightmare if you don't drop that tone," he growled. 

"Oh wow, really edgy. What, are you gonna play some My Chemical Romance and flip your bad haircut until I get trapped in the black parade?"

"Okay, listen here--" He took a step forward. 

"His name is Charles Lee and he's working on getting his temper under control," someone else said as he ran up to the two. "Isn't that right?"

Charles crossed his arms and glared at Hamilton. 

"I'm Samuel," the new member of the conversation held his hand out for Hamilton to shake. "Charles is still working on being decent to other people. It's a work in progress, though at this point it's more work than progress." He muttered the last part but right after it was out of his mouth, an obnoxiously big smile was back on his face. 

"Sam I swear--"

"He's actually attending a party tonight! You should come to it, as far as I know, it's a 'the more the merrier' sort of thing--"

"It's really not."

"--so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to come to!" 

Alex glanced between Samuel and Charles and, out of nothing short of spite, smiled. "I don't think I have anything better to do." 

Lee rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving Alexander and Samuel to talk for a second. 

"Like I said, it's a work in progress," Sam looked worriedly behind him but shrugged. He seemed significantly more nervous now that his friend was gone. "He usually warms up to people pretty quickly though." 

"He looked ready to shoot me because I insulted his hair."

"So he's a little impulsive." Sam waved it off and looked behind him again, noticing that Charles was actually waiting over by a fountain for him to follow. "Really, he's a nice guy." 

"Well, since we're talking, what are you studying here?"

"Oh! Right, uhm, computer sciences, actually. You know, coding and all that technological stuff. . . Really, though, I should get going before Lee gets even more upset." With that, Samuel ran to meet back up with Charles and they walked away, most likely talking about how necessary it was to invite Alexander to the party. 

Despite the obvious unwelcome tone of Lee's voice, Hamilton was most definitely going to come to the party. Not to see if Charles Lee really was a decent a guy, it was actually because Samuel seemed like the type of person to get legitimately sad if he was let down.


	11. Jefferson

"Jane is going to kill you when she finds out that you interrupted my studying, you know that right?" Thomas pointed out as he walked with his sister across the campus. At eight o'clock at night, the sky was already dark and the early October chill was starting to set in. 

Thomas settled deeper into his worn-out letterman jacket that he technically got from a resale store. 

"She can't kill me if you never tell her. And the only studying that you were doing when I called was maybe what happens first hand when sleeping," Mary countered. "Come on, Tommy, it's Friday! Live a little! We don't need another Jane, that stick is far up her ass that I'm not even sure if she's human. Maybe she's a puppet for a secret organization no one knows about." 

Thomas frowned. "Hey, that's not fair, it's not her fault. You know that." 

"I know, it's Mommy Dearest's fault, but jokes are the best medicine so I provide comic relief!" Mary looked at her brother and rolled her eyes when she saw that his frown wasn't letting up. "Tom, I didn't mean it to insult her. She does what she can and I appreciate that! Scout's honor." She crossed her heart for emphasis. "It does kinda suck, though, putting into perspective and all." 

"This is the rare moment where Mary Jefferson is talking serious, the world must be ending," Thomas laughed. Mary let out a small laugh but it was surprisingly humorless. 

"Yeah, yeah, but seriously. She didn't really get a warning to when she had to grow up like we got, you know? She had to just eat a mushroom and grow up, just like that." Mary looked up at the night sky and took a long breath. "When all of this really started she was, what, ten? She got a decade of childhood and the rest of that was used to make sure me and you and everyone else got what she didn't." 

"It kinda makes you wonder how she did all that." 

"When you get us onto Easy Street, she needs her own room. Better yet, her own  _floor_." 

"With a built-in home-theatre where she can watch all the Mom-movies that she forced herself to like without any toddlers to interrupt her." 

"With a popcorn machine!" 

"And soft drinks?" 

" _All of the soft drinks_!" 

The sound of booming music and shouting young adults pulled the siblings out of their Jane Appreciation conversation and into the fun and easy-going feeling of the bass that would probably be so strong that they'd be able to feel it pounding in the ground. 

They got onto the property and Mary nodded and shouted a greeting at someone leaning on a post. He didn't hear her and was probably too stoned to notice that anyone was trying to get his attention. She waved him off when she figured that he wasn't going to respond. She led Thomas inside the house and the air was already foggy and smelled like things that probably weren't legal. 

"Alright, so do you remember in high school when we would point out who looks the cutest and who needs some work?" Mary asked suddenly, turning on her heel to face her brother. 

"Yes, I do." 

"Wanna play?" 

Thomas didn't have to weigh his options much. It was a fun game that only they played together, and if they found the perfect looking person, they decide amongst each other which one gets the first flirt. That and it was better than wandering around some fraternity house that he didn't know. He shrugged and they continued walking around together. 

They pointed out at least ten girls that would be fine if they didn't try so hard and few boys that would be great if they didn't dress like total douchebags and one or two that just needed a better haircut, not finding any that hit the mark of aesthetic perfection. 

"Oh, here's one," Mary shouted over the music. She pointed across the room where three men stood with red solo cups, laughing and talking. "That one looks cute in a 'hey, he's someone's little brother' way. Y'know, sort of 'protect the boi'. 'Boy' is spelled with an 'i', by the way." 

"Agreed. I say that the one standing with his arm around the Boi-With-An-I's shoulders is pretty mysterious. Doesn't look very happy to be there, very Twilightesque. Or Hot Topic, either way, he's cool if you're a thirteen-year-old girl."

Mary nodded. "Which leaves the last one. I dunno, I can't find anything on him! Nice hair, nice height, sensible shoes. . . I think we found our winner, Tommy boy, who gets him?" 

"You have  _got_ to be kidding me," Thomas muttered. He was surprised when Mary actually heard him. Or she read his lips, either way, she knew what he said. 

"What, do you not want him? I'll gladly take it!" 

"That's my roommate." 

Mary put on her signature "I'mma 'bout to fuck shit up" grin and weaved her way through the crowd of desperate young adults and solo cups filled with angst, anxiety, and booze. Thomas tried yelling after her but only ended up getting the attention of a drunk girl that was stumbling by. He watched as Mary made her way up to Alex. Before she started talking to Alexander, she waved the other two men away.

"Mary, what're you going to do. . ." Thomas nervously muttered to himself.

To Thomas's surprise, Alexander was smiling at the interaction, he didn't look like the embodiment of sleep deprivation. Mary pointed back to Thomas and he glared at her for emphasis on the fact that he hated her plan, whatever it was. Alexander smiled and linked his arm through Mary's as she led him back Thomas. 

"Fancy meeting you here, Thomas," Alex shouted. 

Thomas didn't say anything so Mary took the situation into her own hands. 

"Why don't we bounce? This place is probably getting shut down soon." Without waiting for an answer, Mary linked her free arm through Thomas's and led them out of the building and away from the party. She didn't bother waving down the man from before.

"Much better!" She cheered when they were walking down the street. The bass turned into soft thumping but the music was still prominent. 

"So, how do you two know each other?" Alex asked as the three walked down the street. In Thomas's opinion, it was obvious that he didn't really care, he was just asking to annoy his roommate. 

"Who me and Tommy?" Mary asked in fake confusion. "Oh, we go  _way_ back, I've known the kid since he was in diapers. Hashtag besties!" She squealed in a fake schoolgirl voice. She poked at her brother's cheek for emphasis.

"She's my sister," Thomas grumbled, swatting Mary's hand away. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Oh, you're one of his sisters! Older, I'm assuming?" Alex focused his attention on Mary, only glancing at Thomas to smirk. 

"Smart cookie." 

"So that means you have embarrassing childhood stories of him?" 

"Oh,  _tons_!"

Thomas glared down at Alexander and before he could stop his loud-mouth of a sister from spilling the gruesome details about embarrassing things he did as a child, she was going off on a story. It wasn't really all that embarrassing, just that for a solid year he had a stuffed goat toy that he would throw at people he didn't like.

"There was this one boy that would always get on his nerves, do you know how many times Tommy over here was sent home because he threw his toy at some poor sap's face?" By the end of the story, Mary and Alex were dying of laughter. Thomas didn't see what was so funny, but the other two seemed to be having a blast. "Well, this is where I leave you two to walk back to your dorm. The girls' one is the other way and Jane'll have a cow if I'm out past curfew." 

Before she ran the other way, Mary whispered to her brother, "Mr. Easy Street." With that, she ran off in the direction they came, leaving Thomas to glare at her as she ran.

"We aren't friends," Thomas said as he caught up with Alex. 

"I didn't say anything." 

"I know. I'm just clarifying that we are not friends."

"Why not?" Hamilton spat. "What  _exactly_ have I done to you that you haven't reciprocated in some way or another that makes you so sure that we aren't friends? I mean, believe me, we aren't. I just want to know your opinion as to why."

"Let's just lay something down right now, Hamilton," Thomas said, turning around suddenly to face the other man. "There are very few people that I can successfully say that I legitimately hate. You are on the top of the list, so just do me a favor. Don't talk to my sisters, and if it's at all avoidable  _don't talk to me_." He turned back around and started walking.

"Or maybe I could do what I want and not listen to rich assholes like you, how's that sound!" Alex yelled at him, sprinting to try to catch up.

Thomas just rolled his eyes and kept walking.


	12. Hamilton

As soon as the rest of the tensely quiet walk was over, the two retreated to their respective sides of the room. Alex grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a baggy shirt from the drawers under his bed and changed into something more comfortable. Thomas just flopped onto his bed and buried his head in the pillow to go to sleep. Alex got into his bed but instead of laying down to sleep, he opened his laptop and started typing. 

He remembered that he forgot to call Peter for the day's events, so he opened his email and started typing out a draft to him. It really didn't have to be very long, just an explanation and a recap of how his day went. Of course, though, he had to go into detail about who he met, what he did, and how the party went. . . And the newest edition of "How Did Hamilton Annoy Jefferson Today." 

About half an hour into Alex's writing, erasing, and rewriting cycle, Thomas spoke up from his bed.

"How are you still awake?!"

"It's only ten thirty, calm down," Alex muttered. He continued typing and Jefferson groaned.

Thomas sat up and snatched his wallet from his desk. He glared at Alexander through the darkness of the room. He only knew where to look from memory and the glow of the computer screen. "Okay, I will give you ten dollars if you go to sleep, that is how done with this shit I am. I'm not even kidding. I will  _pay you to sleep_."

Alexander thought about the offer. Money for sleep. That's it. It seemed easy enough, just fall asleep and he'd get twenty dollars for it. Technically, he could just lay here and pretend to sleep. He looked at Thomas who was still glaring at him in the dark. Hesitantly, Alex closed the laptop and leaned his head on the stiff pillow. Despite how tired he was, it was way too early to guarantee that he would stay asleep for the entire night.

"Thank you," Thomas muttered. Before he pulled the blanket over his head, he stood up and slammed a ten dollar bill on Alexander's desk.

Alex tried to keep his eyes open for as long as possible to prolong falling asleep but without the joys of the internet and writing platforms to distract him, it didn't take long before the tired feeling took its toll and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

As he fell asleep, the blankets seemed to morph into sloshing waves and he regretted his decision to go to sleep.

Suddenly, there were sirens wailing throughout a town that Alexander hadn't seen in what felt like ages. Large raindrops were pelting down on the roof and windows. Bodies were dragged along like ragdolls but the worst part was the screams. The ones so loud that they overrode the sirens and the wind, the ones that came from people being ripped away from loved ones. . .

Rachel had been in the hospital at the time. It was just after she'd gotten sick, so Alex was alone as he tried to make his way to higher ground. As he pushed against the waves, various things attempted to slow him down. The wind, the rain, people calling for him to help save someone that was probably a goner, almost anything, but instead of turning to help the poor soul that was just as scared as he was or giving in to the wind, he kept moving.

He didn't have much time to think before a branch was pushed in front of him. Alex lost his footing. He slipped and the water overcame him quicker than he could take a breath. After only a few seconds, his lungs were burning for oxygen. Alex tried to get back up as best he could, but with wind, waves, and random objects in his way, it proved harder than he was hoping. Just as he was about to give in to his burning lungs, he felt a pair of arms pull him up.

Then, as quickly as he'd fallen asleep, he was back in his dorm room, the light was on. Thomas was sitting in front of him with a matching look a fear.

Hamilton couldn't stop repeating the word 'no' as he tried to block out the memories. Without thinking, he fell into Thomas and let out a muffled sob as he thought about Nevis.

"You, uhm, you have nightmares," Jefferson muttered as he awkwardly patted Alex's back.

"Thanks, I didn't know that."

"I thought you just didn't know how to go to sleep."

Despite the situation, Alex had to laugh at how serious his roommate sounded. Thomas joined in, still being awkward with it, and after a few seconds, he spoke again.

"Why'd you take the money in the first place then?! You could have just said 'fuck off' and I would have gone on hating you!" 

Hamilton shook his head. He didn't want to seem more pitiful than he already did so bringing up Peter and Rachel wouldn't be very smart.

"Do you maybe want to talk about it?" Yet again, he sounded serious and sincere, like he really wanted to know if the shorter man was okay. Or at least okay enough to move from the still very awkward embrace. "What was it?"

Alexander took a deep breath and sat up before he spoke, still avoiding eye contact. "I lived in the Carribean up until a couple years ago and there was-- there was this really bad hurricane that went through. . ."

Thomas seemed to catch on before Alex said anything else. "The place was demolished. I saw those pictures. I knew some people that went on mission trips to help clean up and take care of the. . ." Thomas stopped. Alex figured that he didn't want to say 'bodies' or 'critical' anything. 

Hamilton wiped his eyes with the palm of his hand and nodded. Thomas pulled him into a hug, only this time it wasn't awkward. It was comforting and sincere and probably needed.

"If you think the pictures were bad, it was probably worse with a front row seat. But if I can just stay up long enough and only go to sleep when I'm  _really_ tired, and I mean barely-keeping-my-eyes-open tired, I don't even think about it. It's so much easier to stay asleep and I don't have to look at all the-- the bodies and--"

"Why don't we just watch a movie tonight? You don't have to go to sleep and I'll just take you get some coffee tomorrow. My treat."

For the first time during the night, Hamilton made eye contact with Thomas.

"We?"

"I figured I could stay up with you, you know since I sort of paid you to relive that." It was Jefferson's turn to avert his eyes. "If you want me to, I mean." 

"You're the one that would take sleep over anything and you're seriously offering to stay up and watch stupid movies with me. . . Because I had a nightmare?"

"Well, gee, make it sound like I'm full of myself why don't you."

For once, Alex wasn't completely certain of what he was thinking of Thomas at that moment. All this time he'd thought that Jefferson was a pretentious Mama's boy with more money than he really knew what to do with and an ego large enough to provide for an entire orphanage. Now he seemed like he really wanted to do something that as morally right instead of something that would benefit him and him only and it didn't seem like flirting was really on his mind either. 

"You were literally just emphasizing the fact that we were most definitely not friends not even six hours ago, and you seriously want to sit awake with me, in the middle of the night, miss out on sleep, and then buy me coffee in the morning out of the kindness of your heart? Excuse me for assuming but that really seems to be a little. . . Suspicious, you know? Another thing, though--" 

Thomas rolled his eyes like he wanted to say 'yeah, no. Still not friends.' Instead, he said, "You talk a lot. Which one do you want to watch?" He made his way over to the scrappy cardboard box holding the VHS tapes. Most of them were Disney movies, with a couple tapes that seemed to be things that only hipsters would watch that Thomas had never even heard about. 

He picked one up that caught his eye. "What's  _Good Will Hunting_?"

"That's a good one," Hamilton muttered as he wrapped a blanket around himself. He could still practically hear the sirens and the wind. 

Thomas shrugged and put the movie in, getting comfortable on the floor. 

"Why are you on the floor?" 

"Because I told you that I'd stay awake and if I get back in my bed, I'll probably fall asleep." Thomas leaned against the leg of his desk. Alex didn't say anything else as he moved to the floor to sit next to Thomas. 

"What are you--"

"You're sacrificing your comfort, so am I. We're even," Alex muttered, throwing the other end of the blanket over Thomas, who adjusted it to where they were both covered. For someone that was supposed to hate Thomas, Alexander found it comforting when he fell asleep on Thomas's shoulder two movies later. 


	13. Jefferson

Thomas didn't necessarily  _regret_ staying up with Alex, but in the morning he definitely felt the sleep deprivation. 

 _How does anyone function like this_? He thought. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked down at Alex, who shifted in the middle of the night from leaning his head on Thomas's shoulder to laying with his head on Thomas's lap and his feet propped on his bed.

He really didn't feel like dealing with Hamilton's attitude so, without moving too much, Thomas reached on top of his desk and felt around for his phone. Once he found it, he checked the time. Since it was still before ten, Jefferson decided that they'd better hurry up and get to the shop. He looked back down at his roommate, who looked. . . Asleep. 

That was the only word that he could think to describe it. Hamilton didn't look peaceful. He looked like he was solving an invisible set of problems, with his scrunched eyebrows. His mouth was pressed into a thin line like the problem wasn't going in his favor.

Thomas was going to wake him up, but a part of him just wanted to let the guy sleep. Despite not looking necessarily "peaceful", it was better than what happened the night before. No matter how absolutely annoying Hamilton could get, and he  _could_  get, Thomas didn't want to see him as defenseless as he was when he woke up the first time. It wasn't a good kind, either, not the one where he's head-over-heels in love, it was the kind that makes you want to protect something and never let anything hurt it.

Not that he wanted to protect Alexander, it was just the common association. 

Alex grumbled and rolled over, hugging Thomas's legs in the process. Thomas decided that it was time to wake up and stood up so fast that Hamilton's head took a second before it hit the ground. It definitely woke him up though. 

"What the hell was that for!?" Alex screeched rubbing the back of his head.

"We need to go if you want to beat the lines," Thomas answered curtly as he pulled some shoes on. He never changed out of his clothes from the party, jacket and all. "I'll be in the hall." 

Thomas heard Alex mutter "asshole," as he went into the hallway to wait. He pulled out his phone and quickly punched in Mary's number. Then he erased it, knowing that Mary was horrible with advice and she'd probably be asleep anyway. He dialed Jane's instead.

" _Thomas! What are you doing up so early?_ " Jane asked. She sounded like she'd been up for hours. 

"I'm coming over later. My roommate and I are going out for coffee right now, and as soon as we're done, I'll be over."

" _Is everything alright?_ " 

Thomas hesitated for a second while he got an idea. "Yeah, everything's great. You know what, why don't you and Mary meet us there instead? I don't think you've met him and he and Mary really hit it off last night." 

" _Oh, alright, I guess we can meet you there. Why, though? Is someone afraid of a little date?_ " Thomas could hear the smile in Jane's voice and he rolled his eyes. 

"It's not a date--"

"What's not a date?" Hamilton asked as he walked out of the room. 

"Nothing. Jane, just meet us there, we're leaving now." Thomas hung the phone and shoved into the jacket that he didn't bother changing. "My sisters are going to meet us there." 

Alex nodded and they started walking. It was quiet until they got into the elevator. 

"So are you just not going to explain the reason why you decided to start my day with a pounding headache?" Hamilton said suddenly, turning to face Thomas with his arms crossed. 

"You were on my legs. I needed to get up, so I did. I'm not really seeing what's so confusing." 

"A simple 'hey wake up' would have been fine," Alex grumbled.

The rest of the elevator ride went slow and quiet. Neither wanted to talk and neither of them had anything to say. Thomas figured it would be better not to push about what happened to put them in the social situation since it really wasn't his business to even care. 

They got out of the building, waving to the RA as they went by and pretending to not hear whatever it was that he was saying. As soon as they were out of the building, though, Hamilton's bratty arm-cross turned into hugging himself for warmth and protection against the chilly air.

 "Cold?" Jefferson asked with a smirk. 

"No, you're just so annoying that I have to keep a grip on myself so I don't catch fire." 

"So what I'm hearing is that I'm too hot to be around without spontaneous combustion?" 

"That  _would_ be what you heard." Alex glared at Thomas.

Thomas actually laughed as he shrugged off the letterman jacket from the night before. He handed it to Alexander, who eyed it suspiciously. 

"I don't need your stupid jacket," he growled as they continued walking. 

"Oh, please, you're lips are blue and we haven't been outside for more than five minutes. Trust me, this is not a favor for a friend, I still don't like you. But what kind of guy would I be if I let a damsel in distress freeze?" 

Hamilton snatched the jacket and slipped it on. It was entirely too big but he just shrunk into it to hide from the cold. He shoved his hands into the pockets and glared ahead, the cold making his face red as they pushed against the wind.   
  
  
  


They got to the Hip Stir and Jefferson mockingly held the door open, bowing and motioning into the restaurant. Alex stepped in and waited for Thomas to come in to get drinks and lead them to the right table, which he did. They sat down next to the Jefferson sisters after Mary enthusiastically waved them over. 

"So this is the famous Hamilton, huh?" Jane asked with a smirk. She leaned her head on her hands and looked him over. "Got yourself a real cutie, Thomas." 

"Careful, Jane, Tommy already made his move. Easy Street here we come!" Mary cheered. 

"Wait, what--" Alex looked at Thomas, obviously expecting an explanation. 

"Both of you can stop, I still hate him." Thomas shrugged and glared at Mary, telling her to drop the 'Easy Street' jokes. "The only reason he's got the jacket is that the idiot wore a short-sleeved shirt during a season change." 

"For the last time, I wasn't cold! You're just really annoying."

Thomas was going to say something snarking in return, but Mary beat him to it. 

"You're still wearin' it, Darlin'." Mary pointed to the jacket and smirked when Hamilton's face flushed. Jane snickered and high fived her sister. 

Yet again, Thomas opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by someone joining the conversation. 

"Well if it isn't the Jeffersons," someone that Thomas recognized as John Adams laughed. "Hi." 

"Yeah, I'm not a Jefferson," Hamilton pointed out. 

"Not yet anyway," Mary muttered. Jane and Mary both had to hide their smiles as Thomas glared. 

"Adams," Thomas said, turning his attention to the old family friend. "Haven't seen you in a while." 

"Yeah, I think the last time I saw you was when Mary got in? A couple years ago, at least." Adams smiled and sat down next to Thomas, forcing him to scoot closer to Alex, which left the smaller person squished against the wall. Hilariously enough, Adams didn't ask if he could until he was already comfortable. 

The conversation didn't take more than ten minutes before it took a political turn. Jane was gladly joining in, disagreeing with most things that Adams said civilly, Mary was making bad jokes about them and Thomas and Alex were sitting awkwardly, sipping on their drinks. 

Alex checked his phone as it chimed in his pants pocket. 

"Who's that?" Thomas whispered, leaning in so the others couldn't hear. 

Alex looked like he was going to reply before Adams said something that he apparently found offensive. 

"I'm just saying that immigrants shouldn't be allowed to be lawyers." Adams shrugged. 

"And why's that?" Hamilton growled as he stood up, shoving the phone into the jacket's pocket. 

"Because if they get a case with another immigrant, they might alter the evidence in some way to sway the result, and if they get a case with a white man, they'd do anything in their power to get the guy arrested! They all have the same mindset, if it were up to me we'd have that wall built sooner rather than later." 

"That is the most racist and stereotypical thing that I've ever heard, not to mention stupid. Do you even hear yourself?" Alex pinched the bridge of his nose like a mom that was getting sick of a three-year-old.

"Yeah, and I also hear a logical point that only an immigrant would get defensive at."

Thomas was actually worried about what Hamilton was planning on saying. Instead of doing something stupid he shrugged off the jacket and looked at the girls on the other side of the table. 

"As nice it was to see and meet both of you, I have a thing to take care of." He turned to Adams. "I'll be sure to tell you about how wrong and ignorant you are when this immigrant finishes top of the class and becomes the most successful lawyer that you've ever seen. Now move." 

Thomas and Adams moved and let Alex through, neither of them saying anything until he tried handing the jacket back to Thomas. 

"Just give it back when you get back to the dorm. It probably hasn't gotten any warmer out."  

Alex nodded and put it back on before walking out of the coffee shop. Thomas watched as he walked away, only looking back into his conversation when Alexander was out of sight. 

"He only proved my point on immigrants." Adams shrugged.

As much as he hated to admit it, Thomas actually agreed with his short loudmouth of a roommate more than his old family friend. Adams was being beyond out of line and hilariously racist, but he also isn't one to listen to opinions that opposed his, so instead of saying anything about it, Thomas just busied himself with drinking his tea.


	14. Hamilton

Alexander stomped away from the shop with John Adams's words bouncing around in his head. They didn't hurt his feelings at all, they actually just gave him the motivation that he needed to prove people like Adams wrong. There wasn't anything different from him and Hamilton. They both had a heart (probably), they were both human (debatable), they both lived on planet Earth, the only thing separating the two was the title 'immigrant'. The word itself isn't even supposed to be meant as an insult, but people like Adams turned it into one whenever they opened their mouths to talk about something that they knew nothing about. That seemed to happen a lot.

Add that to the list of things that really annoyed Alex. 

He made his way back to the place where he met Samuel and Charles, hoping to run into them again. He sat down on the edge of a fountain and waited for them to walk by. It was the subtlest way he could think of to get their attention. 

He was waiting for around ten minutes when his phone rang. Since he'd never heard the 'work phone' ring before, Alex assumed that it was his actual phone, which meant that Peter was calling. 

"Did something happen?" Hamilton said when he answered.

" _Yes, but not with Rachel._ "

"Then what's up?"

" _What's up?! You want to explain why I'm noticing hundreds of dollars transferred to our bank account!_ " Peter yelled from the other end of the line. 

"Oh, yeah about that. . ." 

" _Alexander_." 

"So I may have taken up jobs again." Alex cowered like he was telling his parent that he broke the most expensive thing in the house, despite Peter not being his parent and not even being able to see him. 

" _Alexander! You better have a great explanation for taking that back up! We talked about this, man, its way too dangerous to be doing that._ "

Alex was about to explain when his 'work phone' chimed in the pocket of the jacket again. He pulled it out and checked the message. It was a totally new number and the message was the creepiest thing that he'd received in a while.

_From: unknown  
think of this as a secret society. tell anyone about it and you'll regret it._

" _Hey, Al, you still there? I'm not mad, I just need an explanation so I know you aren't getting hurt or getting tangled up in anything illegal. Your mom would kill me._ " Peter's voice pulled him back into the conversation and away from the creepy stalkerish message. 

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's. . . Everything's fine, don't worry. I'm doing way better with it this time, I know what jobs to avoid. It's just for the money and if it gets bad again, I'll quit. Easy." 

_From: unknown  
no you wont no it isnt and no you cant._

It was quiet for a second before Peter said anything, so Alex was left to stare at the string of messages coming in. Someone could hear his conversation. Well, pretty much everyone around him could, but someone was listening in from the organization. Suddenly everyone around the fountain, whether they were sitting on benches or under trees, seemed suspicious.

" _Alright, I'm trusting you here. Don't do anything stupid. I'm serious._ " 

"I know, I know, but I need to go now," Alex said half-heartedly. "I'll call you tonight, okay?"

" _Oh, actually I have to work late tonight. Maybe in the morning_." 

Something about the way Peter said that made Alex think that he was lying, but he didn't have time to question it. The object of his job was going by and he needed to be ready. He quickly muttered a 'yeah goodbye' and hung up the phone. He pretended to be sliding through some app, looking at hilarious pictures, to get their attention. 

"Oh, hey!" Sam said when he noticed Alex sitting on the fountain. "It's Alexander, right?" 

"Alex, please," he responded with a smile. 

Like last time, Sam was right next to Charles, who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. Really, like he wanted to be anywhere else. He glanced at the letter on the jack that Alex was wearing and smirked. 

"So, Hamilton, where'd ya get the letterman? As far as I know, there isn't a single 'J' in your name." Sam glared at Charles, who just shrugged like he didn't know that went against the rules of having great people skills. 

Alex rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I got it from my brother." 

"Really? Because if I'm right about where I think you got it, which I'm almost positive I am, then I'd say that the little loudmouth got himself a boyfriend. Why don'tcha tell Jefferson I said hi, huh?" 

"And why would you think it's his?" 

Charles just shrugged and smirked like he knew exactly what to say, he just didn't want to say it for the sole purpose of driving Alex insane.

"You realize that we've interacted a total of once, right?" 

"And I've learned  _so_ much about you from that and since then. Amazing what some studying does. But, that also includes your relationship past." Charles shrugged. "Word travels fast." 

"Charlie, I think that's enough," Sam muttered, obviously noticing the oncoming confrontation. 

"No, I think that it's a valid argument! What was it again? You cheated, right? Better yet, I think I actually remember it being something along the lines of you paying to keep her on the side!" 

"Yeah, well you seem to be leaning to being an emotionally manipulative asshat, at least  _bordering_  abusive, from the way that he's hanging off your arm, so why don't you just fuck right off." Hamilton crossed his arms. He knew that it probably not true considering how nervous and lost Samuel looked the last time they met when Charles walked off. It was all a part of the plan if he got his guess right. 

Samuel's grip looked like it tightened around Charles's arm and the color was gone from his face. Charles glared at Hamilton. "I'd watch what you're saying there, Hamilton."

Sam took a deep breath and looked Alexander in the eyes. 

"Charles, could I talk to him?" Sam asked. "Alone." 

"I really don't think--" 

Sam cut him off with a hard and serious look. He let go of Lee's arm so he could walk off, which he did with an annoyed grumble while shoving his hands aggressively in his sweater pockets. Sam looked back at Alex. 

"You're trying to get to him," he said. He looked like he was trying to keep up all the confidence that he possibly could without Lee on his arm. 

"I am, but I didn't know that it really happened to you," Alex said apologetically. He was silently cheering himself for actually getting it right. It was more than a longshot, but it was worth it, even though the other man looked ready to pass out. "Here, let me see your phone." 

Sam looked suspiciously at Alexander's extended hand.

"Come on, I'm not going to steal it. I'm just going to give you my number. So we can maybe hang out sometime, you know?" 

The nervous man nodded slowly and handed Alex his phone. Alex quickly punched in his phone number to his 'work phone', since it was on vibrate, and handed the phone back. He smiled and waved the conversation away with a quick goodbye. He didn't really see any reason to stick around with Sam if the job was done and if the object of the job would rather be somewhere else. 

He took out the phone when he was far enough away and looked through his call directory to find Samuel's number. As soon as he found it, he texted it to the person that asked for it initially. He didn't quite understand the job at first, but after the situation was over, he found himself worrying that he just gave an innocent man's contact information to a former abuser that was blocked for a reason.

Alex felt guilt rising up in him for bringing the other man to the brink of a full-blown panic attack with one insult and then sending out his phone number. He forced himself to push it down though. It didn't matter how he got the job done, as long as it was done. It didn't matter what the job was, it only mattered how much he was paid. Especially with the pay that this one was offering? It would definitely help him and Peter out with hospital bills. That's all he had to keep in mind to justify his actions.

 _Think of your mom,_  he reminded himself as he made his way back to the dorm building.  _Think of your mom and how much she needs the money. Or about Peter and how much he might need it. They matter. No one else._

He just kept repeating those words to himself as he walked away.


	15. Jefferson

After spending a few hours with his sisters, the only thing Thomas wanted was a nap he found his jacket tossed lazily on his bed with a piece of notebook paper laid on top of it that said ' _You were wrong, it got warmer._ ' Hamilton wasn't anywhere inside, so Thomas figured that he went out to visit Laurens or some other person that he'd met. He moved the jacket to hang on the door to their bathroom, he thought it felt heavier than it should have but not enough to really check for anything. 

Jefferson turned off his phone so he wouldn't have to worry about Jane or Mary waking him up with annoying questions about the new candidate for "Mr. Easy Street".  He flopped onto his bed, enjoying the comfortable mattress instead of the hardwood floor. 

As usual, it didn't take long before he fell asleep.

So you can imagine how annoyed he was when he was woken up an hour later to the sound of a ringing phone. 

He turned over and pulled the pillow over his head to ignore whichever one of his sisters was calling. The phone eventually stopped ringing, only to start again ten seconds later. And so began the pattern of driving the man that can't operate without with sleep insane. After four more calls, Thomas snatched up his phone and pressed the home button. Then he remembered that his phone was off for this exact reason and listened for where the noise was actually coming from. 

He found Alexander's phone in the letterman's pocket, still ringing. Thomas figured that whoever it was wouldn't stop calling so he picked up the phone as soon as he did, someone was talking on the other end. 

" _Dude, I've been trying to call you for an hour what the hell! Did you just forget about the situation out here?!_ " The voice on the other end shouted. He didn't give Thomas enough time to answer. " _It doesn't matter, you need to get down here now. Meet me at the hospital._ " 

For a second, Thomas forgot he was talking to one of Alex's friends. "Why?" 

" _Why?! You know--_   _wait, this isn't Alex. Who are you? Never mind, I don't have time for that, I need to talk to Alexander. Where is he? Put him on the phone, it's important._ " 

"He's sort of not here? I'm his roommate, though, maybe I could take a message or something like that?"

" _Oh, you're Thomas then. He talks about you a lot. Look, I have to go. I need Al to get his ass over here now. Find him and tell him that his cousin called and it's about his mom, he'll understand if you say that._ " The other man rushed before hanging up. Thomas figured that he shouldn't wait to tell Hamilton about the phone call so he threw on the jacket. 

 

 

Thomas really didn't know where he could find Alex, so he decided to check the Hip Stir before anything else. If all the coffee cups that were in the trashcan were indicative of anything, it was definitely a caffeine addiction.

He probably should have expected Alex to be somewhere else considering they were just there a couple hours before and it would be way too packed for anyone in the mid-morning hours on a Saturday.

The next place that came to his mind was John's place, but he didn't really know where that was. He got an idea, but it was a longshot. If John never replaced his phone or changed his number, that might be a good way to get ahold of him. Chances are, Alex could be found hanging around John. 

Thomas quickly punched in John's number. He knew that Laurens wouldn't respond to a text, so a call was a better option. It took three tries before someone finally answered. 

" _What do you want, Jefferson?_ " John asked coldly. 

"Is Hamilton there?" 

" _Why do you care?_ " 

"Just answer the question, Laurens. It's an emergency and I sort of need to talk to him." 

" _Fine, here_." 

Thomas heard shuffling as the phone was passed around until finally, it settled at Alex.

" _What do you want, Jefferson_?"

"What is up with you people and greeting me like that!" Thomas groaned. Since he got ahold of Alex, he started walking back to the dorm. "You left your phone in my pocket and your cousin called and interrupted my well-needed and well-deserved nap."

" _What did he say?_ " Hamilton's voice took an anxious tone. 

"He said that it was your mom. Is something wrong with her or. . .?" 

It was quiet for a second before Alex muttered something and hung up the phone. Thomas rolled his eyes and picked up his pace to get back to the dorm. 

"It's not like I want to know what message I just gave you anyway," he muttered.

 

Surprisingly, when Thomas got inside the room, Alex was already aggressively packing a backpack of clothes. 

"So," Thomas said, dragging out the O sound. "What exactly is going on?"

"I need to get back home for a little bit." Alex threw another shirt into the case. "Do me a favor and call me a cab while I do this. Maybe e-mail my professors if you can, that'd be great." 

"Do you even have enough money for a cab?" Thomas asked. "Realistically, I mean. Like, can you afford to take a taxi there and back, presumably everywhere in between, and still have enough money to take care of yourself while you're there?"

"I'll be fine."

"Because of those jobs, right?" Thomas still wasn't too accepting of the jobs and he figured that Alex couldn't really care less. That didn't stop him from making insulting comments about them, though.

"Jefferson, I don't have time for this." Hamilton stood and threw the bag over his shoulder. "'Those jobs' aren't your concern and neither am I, so if you could just move, stop worrying about how I make money, and call me a cab, that'd be great." 

"As my roommate, you  _are_ my concern, and I'm not calling a taxi for you." Thomas crossed his arms. 

"I  _just_ told you that I don't have time for your shit!" 

"Exactly, which is why I'm driving you. You don't have time to wait around. Plus, if you don't have time for my shit, you don't have time to argue." 

"Fine, whatever, just hurry up and get a bag ready." 

Thomas did just that, throwing sweaters and clothes and a toothbrush into his bag. As they walked out of the building, he texted Jane telling her what was happening since they all shared a car. Jane, of course, said it was more than okay and that she and Mary could use more walking. After he was done with that, he followed a nervous Alex into the hall and out of the building. 

"I'm driving," Alex offered once they got to Thomas's car. 

"Yeah, that's not happening." 

"What, why not? You don't even know where it is!" 

"If I put you behind the wheel, you'll probably ignore every traffic law ever created. That and you aren't driving my car, I'll just use GPS." 

"Whatever, just don't get us lost." 

 

 

The few-hour-long car ride was mostly quiet, except for the occasional comment from Alex about how Thomas drives like a grandma and has no regard for time-sensitive emergencies. 

"Well, fine then! Why don't you tell me what makes this trip so time-sensitive, huh?" Thomas blurted after the fifth comment. 

"And why would you think that I'd trust you enough to tell you that?" 

"Well, you already opened up about the, well, you know, that other thing." Thomas's voice softened as he tried to avoid saying the word, just in case Hamilton was more sensitive than he was letting on.

"Oh, please. You don't have to beat around saying hurricane. It's a word, Thomas. It's not going to kill me."

"Just playing it safe. What's got your panties in a twist anyway? You're being even more insufferable than usual." he took a glance at Alex who staring out of the passenger window. Thomas sighed. "I'm not going to make fun of you or whatever you're worried about, I just want to know what's going on and what I'm potentially missing classes for. Jane'll kill me if it's for something stupid," he joked. Alex seemed to catch on to him trying to lighten the mood and smiled. Almost as soon as it was there, though, it was gone.

"Fine," he started. "For as long as I can remember, my mom's been sick. It was just before the hurricane that she got so bad we had to put her in a hospital. But the hospitals are better here than they are there and I have Peter, the one that was on the phone, out here. We all figured that if I came out to live with him, then we could get her onto his insurance and team up on the things that it didn't cover. Our deal when I left was that I'd get a job so I could still help out, but nothing too big, and we'd call each other once a day at the end of the day and no more."

"So that if he called during the day, you'd know something was wrong." 

"Yeah," Alexander sighed and leaned his head onto the seat. "As angsty as it sounds, saying all that out loud makes my life seem like a cabin in the woods of misery. Put that on a Tumblr post."

"So that's why you needed the jobs. . . They pay more?" 

Hamilton nodded.

"That's really rough, Alex," Thomas muttered, glancing momentarily at him. "Are you, you know, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Alexander physically waved it off with his hand and sat up straighter. He took a breath. "I've been through way worse. With my luck, there's probably way worse to come." 

"Maybe, but that's gotta be really hard, seeing your mom. . ."

"Slowly dying in front of me? I never said it was easy, just that I've dealt with worse. It's a lot easier when you have a family to get through it with, though. If I lost Peter  _and_ my mom, then I'd be really screwed. They're sort of the last bit of family I've got."

Jefferson figured that since they were getting personal anyway, he might as well ask about what he meant by 'last bit'. 

"What about a dad? Any siblings?" 

"My dad left when I was ten and he took my brother with him. He couldn't deal with my mom's health and he wanted to take his firstborn son with him. Not that I care at all, he was more of a nuisance than a father and he always favored James way more." 

"Oh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've never met my dad. Jane tells me he left when I was still learning to talk. Which basically means I was the father figure role-model type thing to five kids that weren't even my full siblings." Thomas decided to let a little slip about himself. Nothing about his current home life, but he could relate to not having a father figure around growing up. 

"Actually, that does make me feel better. I got it pretty good being the only kid, even if I never had a lot of money. So what about a stepfather? You said you have five younger siblings, did your mom remarry or something?"

Thomas kept a quiet stare on the road, hoping that Hamilton would let the subject drop. Alex listened to the sign and nodded. He pulled a phone out of his pocket to check the time. 

"Wait, you have two phones?" Thomas asked as remembered he still had the other phone in his pocket.

"Perks of picking up jobs from other people." Hamilton unbuckled and climbed over the seats to the back of the car. "I'm going to sleep for a while, is that alright?"

"Depends, are you going to actually stay asleep? No nightmares?"

"One time, Jefferson, that happened one time. But I'm probably not going to sleep a lot when we get there so it's worth a try." Thomas watched through the rearview mirror as Alex threw his backpack under his head for a pillow. "Wake me up in about an hour."

"You got it." 

Jefferson had absolutely no intentions of waking the other man up unless he really needed to. Needing directions didn't make the cut of "really needing to", especially when he could just look it up, so he drove in silence for the rest of the way. It was a great time to consider everything that he learned about  _the_ Alexander Hamilton, who apparently wasn't a total snob with no regard for anyone other than himself.

Well, okay, that was still on the table, but Thomas still learned a few things about him.


	16. Jefferson

Thankfully, Alexander really did sleep without any nightmares. He also slept through the entire car ride and was only woken up by Thomas to make sure they were stopped in front of the right place. 

"I told you to wake me up after an hour!" 

"You weren't screaming, I figured you could use the rest. Is this the right place or what?" Thomas asked, leaning into the passenger's seat to look at the building. 

"Yeah, this is it," he muttered before jumping out of the car and dashing into the building. 

Thomas parked in the closest spot he could find and ran inside to catch up with Alexander. Thankfully, Alex was still at the desk when Thomas walked up, so he didn't have wait by himself in the waiting room. The two walked down the hall, gradually speeding up to a jog. 

While Hamilton ran inside the room with no hesitation, Thomas stood awkwardly in the doorway. He knew one out three of the people in the room and he wasn't comfortable with any of it.

"Al, could you please tell your mother that she needs to actually listen to the doctors?" The other man in room muttered. He sounded annoyed but his smile gave away his happiness. Alex visibly relaxed after seeing his family joking around with each other.

"Alexander, don't listen to him, dear. I listen to  _them_ fine,  _they_ don't listen to  _me_! And they're all idiots." the small woman on the bed sat up as much as she could but Thomas could see that it was definitely a struggle for her. "Oh, who's that?" 

Thomas stood up straighter when everyone turned their attention to him. 

"That's my roommate, Mom. Thomas, remember? I've told you about him before. Jefferson, you can't block the door like an idiot for the entire time," Alex said. His mother smacked him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for!" 

"Thomas, was it?" the woman asked, turning her glare from her son to Thomas and letting it soften. "I'm Rachel. Come in, come in, there's nothing to be scared of. I won't bite. That is unless I turn into a zombie, in which case you all are, to put it in a modern light, ultimately screwed."

The other man whispered something in Alex's ear, making Alex punch his arm. "Peter! No!"

Peter laughed and shook his head, looking down at the watch on his wrist. "Ah, crap. I have to go." Thomas moved away from the door so he could get out. "Rachel, you listen to the doctors. They aren't idiots, they went to college to be here and they know what they're talking about. Alex--"

"Okay, you're going to be late, bye Peter!" Alex shouted. Peter rolled his eyes and left the room. 

Thomas watched as Alex talked to his mom about whatever came to his mind. He told her about John Laurens, his new best friend, and about John Adams, his new best spite-fueled motivation. He told her all about how he goes to the same school as the Schuylers, to which she insisted he tried to talk to them again. Alex said he would but the look on his face said that he was scared to try. 

Usually, Thomas would just block out Alexander's meaningless rants, especially since they weren't directed at him. They were usually to Laurens or to his the computer screen. He really didn't care what the loudmouth was passionate about, anyway, but this time was slightly different. Thomas watched every hand movement that Alex used to animate what he was saying and he tried to understand as much of the words coming from Alex's mouth as he could. Not because they were 'big words' or something, but the words were coming out at record speeds and it took a lot to keep up with them. Thomas figured that he'd been doing that a lot since he was younger because his mother seemed to keep up effortlessly, occasionally nodding and comment on the things that he said. 

Alexander was just done talking about John Adams and what he said about immigrants when the woman turned to Thomas before her son could start again. 

"Tom," she said. Typically, the name was reserved for family and friends, but he felt alright having her call him that. "You've been awfully quiet. It's your first year too, right?" 

"Yes, ma'am." Thomas nodded. 

"Well, come over here, then! I want to know about your time so far, have you made any friends, enemies, girl or boyfriends?" She waved her hand to let him know that the list went on. "Tell me all about it." 

Jefferson stayed quiet for a second, looking to Alex for any sign that he should stay out of the conversation. Surprisingly, Alexander looked as excited to hear about it as his mom did, and they lived together. Thomas figured that was just from being able to actually have a conversation with her face to face, it probably wasn't something to happen often. 

He slowly nodded and went over to the bed, sitting in the chair next to it while Alex sat on the end of the bed. The first topic that he told her about was an obvious one, how it was to live with Alex. She agreed with most of what he said, with her son being the most restless person that either of them knew. Eventually, Thomas was talking like Alex was,  going off about everything that happened so far. After a while, he forgot that she wasn't his mother. 

By the time visiting hours were over, Thomas and Alex were joking around, playfully arguing about subjects that they slightly disagreed on. 

Thomas was hesitant to leave when the nurses asked, especially since he didn't have a mom to talk to back home. Alex, on the other hand, was ready to argue with them. Rachel proved that the argumentative side of Alexander ran in the family. Whether it was taught or just natural, she definitely gave some of her arguing talents to her son.

"Alexander, if it bothers you so much just come back first thing in the morning! It's not like I'm going anywhere!" 

"--and that's another thing! I was called down here on the claim that you were in critical condition, that's pretty serious! I'd like to spend as much time as I can with you!" 

"Sweetheart, I love you, and I love that you want to spend time with me, but you and I both know that you're just doing that as an act of defiance. A healthy disregard for the rules. But we also know that hospitals exaggerate! I'm very obviously  _not_  dying right now!" 

"Keywords being 'right now'!"

Rachel used a stern motherly voice. "Alexander." 

Alex held his ground and stared into her eyes like he was challenging her and the display reminded Thomas of the scenes that you'd see on the nature network talking about a fight for authority between lions or something until Alexander finally gave in. 

"Fine, but we're coming back first thing in the morning," he said, pointing a finger at his mom like he was the parent. 

"Why do you think I suggested it to begin with?" 

Hamilton rolled his eyes and gave his mother one last hug and kiss on the forehead before walking out next to Thomas. He looked back anxiously any time a nurse even speed-walked by. 

Since Thomas had to speed park the car before Alex had a chance to leave him behind, they spent half an hour looking for where they parked and then spent another couple of minutes making sure it was the right car. By the time they were actually inside, Alexander was shivering and Thomas was laughing. 

"To be fair, you were the one rushing to get inside," he laughed. 

"Oh, shut it, Jefferson." 

"I brought that jacket with us. Y'know, the one that you loved so much earlier--"

"I didn't love it, and I wasn't cold." 

Thomas laughed again and let that conversation drop, instead he listened to the directions that Alexander was muttering to get to his and Peter's apartment.   
  
  
  


As soon as they were inside, Alex went into the kitchen, leaving Thomas to stand in the main room awkwardly. So, instead of just staring at the shorter man digging through the fridge, he walked around the room. He looked at all the pictures standing on a shelf above a small T.V. Most of them were of Alex at various ages holding different awards with a proud smile in each one. Spelling bees, science fairs, there was even one for a drama club performance.

The one directly in the middle made Thomas do a double-take. Hamilton looked happier in that one than any of the rest.

Correction:  _the_  Hamiltons looked happier. Alexander looked to be around seven in the picture, smiling so wide that his eyes were practically closed and all you could see was his gap-toothed smile. The boy next to him looked just a couple years older. Maybe around the age where things start to get angstier and you don't want to hang out with gap-toothed younger siblings anymore. Surprisingly, that didn't look like him. He had his hand on the kid Alexander's head like he was ruffling his hair, with a smile matching his brother's. Both of their expressions look genuine.

Thomas moved his eyes up and saw a healthier looking Rachel with her head leaning on who was probably Alexander's father. The parents' smiles were soft and caring as they stared into the camera lens. 

Taped to the side of the frame was what looked like an old school photo of Peter. It was only held on by a piece of scotch tape.

"I remember when that was taken." 

Jefferson jumped back at the sudden disturbance. "Is that, uhm. . . Is that your dad?"

"Yup." Alex picked the picture up off the sheld and stared at the glass. "Yeah, I think I was eight in this picture. It was maybe two years before my dad took James on a 'camping trip'."

"I'm assuming he never came back?" Thomas tried sneaking around the topic and saying it quietly in case Alex got offended. 

He just shrugged. "Haven't seen either of them since. I tried keeping in touch for a little while but I gave up after too many unanswered messages. Hilariously enough, I really wanted to go on the camping trip. Dad said it was just for the men of the house."

"Knowing you, you probably got really offended?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. But that's also the summer that my mom took me to see a lot of things because it was just me, so part of it was fun." 

"What about that?" Thomas pointed to the picture hanging the side. "Why's that there?"

"When I moved here, I didn't want Pete to feel excluded from the only family picture that I had with me and the only that I'd be able to take for a while, so I added him onto it." 

Thomas looked at Alex. It wasn't exactly a look of sympathy, but he couldn't look away until Alex moved and shook the attention. He shrugged again and put the picture down. "You should go take a nap or something, rest up. I'll make some dinner or something and let you know when it's done." 

"I don't want to." 

"Good thing I wasn't asking." Hamilton pointed down the hall without another word and Thomas walked down it to find the bedroom. 

He found it on the second try, the first one being a closet that he walked into before realizing that it was a closet. When he was inside the safe quiet of the room, he pulled out his phone and called Mary and Jane. He knew one of them would be awake at this point, that or they'd be severely annoyed. Either way, it was fine. 

" _Hey, little brother, did ya get there safe_?" Thomas was surprised to hear the motherly tone coming from Mary. Even over the phone, he could tell his sisters apart, which was a lot more than what other people can say after looking at them. 

"Yeah, yeah, we're great. He's not-so-subtly freaking out, obviously, but I have a thing." 

" _A romantic thing_?" He could hear the overexcited smile in his sister's voice.

Thomas looked at the door almost nervously as he heard bottles of what he assumed to be sauce clinking on the floor, followed by a swear or two from Hamilton. 

"Sorta kinda."


	17. Laurens

John paced around the room nervously, tossing his phone from one hand to the other. The plan was to call Alexander an hour ago, but each time he had the number punched in, he would delete it and completely redo the script that he had for himself. He actually didn't understand why he was so worried about it, It's not like there was really anything to lose, the worst thing he could do is say no. At least, that's what Laf had been saying. 

"John, you just have to press the green phone button after you type the number and tell him how you feel, it's not hard," Lafayette said. He turned in his seat on the couch to face the man that was wearing a groove in the floor. 

"Easy for you to say, everyone knew that you and Herc were head over heels for each other. All you had to do was go to a park and boom! You two are inseparable!"

"And you two aren't? He shows up and we just sort of adopt him."

"That's different." 

" _Ne sois pas une mauviette._ " 

"I'll be a wimp if I wanna be a wimp!" 

"Well, then could you do it the other room? I'm trying to watch this and as much as I care about you, your romantic failures are all but new." Lafayette turned back to the T.V., leaving his friend to wallow in his own awkwardness. 

John rolled his eyes and walked into his room. He looked at the screen on the phone, debating on whether he should just go with it and press the call button or if he should scrap it again. Eventually, he just pressed the call button, forcing himself to not think about it. 

Every ring went by agonizingly slow as John ran over what he would say again. Finally, after around three rings, someone picked up the phone. 

" _Hey, Johnny,_ " Alex yawned. " _What's up, do you need something_?"

In one last burst of panic, John ditched the game plan. 

"Just to talk, you know, see how you're doing. Did I wake you up? You sound tired." He internally screamed at the lame alternative to his original plan. 

" _I was already awake. I was just waiting for my cousin to get back. Last I checked his shift wasn't this long. And now that I'm thinking about it, he really shouldn't have work today anyway, it being a weekend and all so I just don't--_ " He stopped suddenly and yawned again. " _Sorry, my filter is completely shut down and I'm saying nearly everything going through my head._ "

"No, no, it's completely fine. Maybe you should, I don't know, go to sleep? It's pretty late and I'm sure your cousin is just out picking up food or something." John was half hoping that Alexander would go to sleep and half hoping that he'd stay up to talk. It was quiet for a solid five seconds before John finally heard a soft 'not yet' from the other of the phone. He decided it was the perfect time for a change of subject. "Well, how's traveling with the Lord of Ego?"

" _Actually, I need to talk to you about that. . ._ " Alex seemed to be slightly more awake and nervous as he spoke. John could feel his own worry creeping up on him. 

"Oh?"

" _I just. . . Okay, remember, it is more than completely okay for you to be one hundred percent honest here. It's actually preferred because this is pretty important._ "

"Alright." John nodded nervously, even though Alexander couldn't see it. 

" _You know that you're my best friend, right? And I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you?_ " 

John made a throaty sound to signify that he knew. 

" _Okay. I think. . . I think I maybe, might, just slightly possibly. . . have a romantic attraction to Jefferson._ " Alex lowered his voice and rushed the last bit, assumingly to keep Thomas from hearing and rush through the process of completely destroying what John had originally called for. Almost immediately, Hamilton was talking about him not acting on it at all if it made John uncomfortable in any sort of way. 

John asked the routine questions, just to make sure Alex really knew what he was talking about. Why he thought that, what made him think that, why he wanted to act on it, why he didn't. . . When he was done with the interrogation, he smiled sadly. 

"I'm okay with it," he said, careful to enunciate the words to keep himself calm and collected. Truth be told, he was okay with it. The thing that bothered him most was his own feelings. 

" _Jack, you really don't have to say that just for me. If you aren't--_ "

"Ham, it's fine, seriously. You can't help how you feel and I think that you should. . . I think you should act on it if you really want to. If it makes you happy, I'm willing to tolerate him."

Again, it was quiet for a few seconds. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of slowly ticking seconds of quiet, other than the soft breathing from either end, a reply came. 

" _Thank you, John. You have no idea how much that means to me,_ " Alex said. " _If you change your mind, just tell me. Seriously. I don't want to lose you, Johnny._ "

John was desperate for another change of the conversation. He was happy for his friend, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear every single detail about it. He treated Lafayette and Hercules the same, that didn't mean he loved them any less. He decided a fair one would be on how Alex was handling the situation that he was in, with his mom and all. 

The conversation went on for maybe twenty more minutes before Hamilton finally decided to go to sleep and just leave a note for his cousin. John said a quick goodnight and left his room, going back into the living room where Lafayette was laughing over some show that John didn't bother noticing. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed two spoons and the gallon of strawberry ice cream from the freezer, and went back to the couch to sit with Lafayette. Without saying anything, he handed the spoon to the other man. 

"That bad, huh?" Laf asked sympathetically as he took a bit of the ice cream. "Did he say no?"

"Oh, he did more than saying no," John muttered. He still wasn't angry at Alex or even at Thomas, he was just upset that he didn't get a chance. "Turns out he 'holds a romantic attraction' for someone else." 

"Did he say who?"

John glanced at his friend. Laf seemed to catch on with just the look. 

"Oh. . . Maybe. . . Maybe he changed, John. He might want to treat our favorite loudmouth better! You can't be mad at either of them for--"

"I'm not mad." John looked back down sadly at the ice cream and stabbed another chunk of the pink treat. "I told him that it was fine at least three times before he actually believed that I meant it." 

"And did you? Mean it, I mean. Are you really okay with that?"

"A part of loving someone is wanting them to be happy, right?" Lafayette nodded, taking another bite of the ice cream. "And you'd want Hercules to be happy no matter what, even if that meant he wasn't with you, right?" Again, he nodded, only with more of a sad touch this time. "It's sort of like that I guess. If Alex is going to be happy with Jeffer-- with  _Thomas_ , then I'm okay with it." 

Lafayette nodded and took some more ice cream. Then, with perfect timing, Hercules walked in. 

"Please tell me you're not going to eat all that by yourselves."

Lafayette and Laurens both looked at their friend with matching looks of 'do you know who you're talking to?'


	18. Hamilton

Alexander and Thomas spent three days staying in the apartment. It was quiet. Peter had a couple conversations with them, but they were short and rushed like he was always trying to get somewhere else. Hamilton didn't know where or what was so important that he couldn't stop to have a conversation longer than two minutes, but the two had always respected each other's privacy, so Alex left his cousin alone to do his own thing. 

As the two college kids sat with a pizza in between them on the couch, a show played on the T.V.

"I just don't see how they can get away with hiding all this! That defeats the whole purpose of the show, right? It's criminal investigation!" Thomas shouted as one of the agents destroyed incriminating evidence against another member. 

"It's supposed to make the series more interesting and it shows how far they're willing to go for their friends." 

"They're FBI agents! He's being accused of killing someone, smuggling drugs, all kinds of things that just add up to him being a criminal. And you don't think that it's convenient that the one that doesn't forget anything forgot what happened while he was there?" 

"He was doing it for his mom, though. That's the part that they're thinking of because of his entire backstory." 

Jefferson shrugged and picked up another slice of pizza. "Just saying, maybe they should be focusing on the evidence against him." 

"They know him as a person and that's enough for them," Alex replied. He looked down at his personal phone that was buzzing on the table and furrowed his brows at the number. Thomas looked over at him in confusion. Hamilton waved it off and took the phone into the kitchen to answer it. 

Once he was in the other room, he heard the show pause and could imagine Thomas leaning over the back of the couch to see what was happening. Alex kept his voice down when he answered the phone. 

" _Mr. Hamilton?_ " 

"Yes?" 

Alex listened closely as the doctor told him the situation before he bolted out of the kitchen. He rushed out what was going on and together, Jefferson and Hamilton ran out of the building and to the hospital. 

 

 

Hamilton wasted no time running into his mother's room. After around half an hour of fussing over whatever would make Rachel more comfortable, she finally gave in and said, "Alexander, would you be a dear and get me a fresh glass of water? These nurses don't listen too well when it comes to water." she smiled as her son walked out of the room quickly. 

He saw Thomas move to follow him, but Rachel insisted that she only wanted her son to go get it.

Alex ran around the hall to find the nearest water cooler. Once he found one, he sprinted toward it, filling the small paper cup with water and hurrying back to his mother's room. He'd never been more worried to leave her alone, not with how the doctors were talking.

But technically, she wasn't alone. Thomas was still there and that made Alex feel at least slightly better.

Hamilton rushed back in and set the cup down on the side table. "Here you go. Are you doing alright? Anything hurting? Do you need anything else?"

"If you could open the window, that'd be wonderful." 

He nodded and opened the blinds to show the dark orange and blue sky. Alex hadn't even realized that it was already sunset when they left. He stopped for a second to wonder when Peter would arrive.

"Is that alright?" He asked, turning to face his mother.

Rachel only smiled and scooted over. She patted the side of her bed. Alexander got comfortable next to his mother and let a few tears slip through. It took all he had to keep himself composed. He knew that this was the last time he'd get to see his mother alive and it tore him up inside. She wasn't coming out.

The woman ran a hand through her son's hair.

"Do you boys want to hear a story?" Rachel asked. She didn't give them a chance to answer, she just waved Thomas over to sit in the seat and listen to the story. Once Thomas was sitting, Rachel started up on a tale about a soldier that was working through the war. The same one that she would tell Alexander when something went wrong as a child. It was originally just a tale that would keep him occupied when he got sick, but then it turned into one that kept him comforted whenever someone would get hurt, or they'd move, or when his father left. . .

"It didn't matter what happened to him, he would always get back up again and rejoin the fight," Rachel said. "He was a marvelous soldier, an even better strategist, and an excellent man. He wasn't the best because of the choices he made, those were mostly horrible, but he always tried to do what was right for those around him in the end. He wasn't a perfect human, but he was an excellent man.

"In between battles, he was writing letters to his family. He didn't have a wife or children yet, so his mother was always his first choice to communicate with. The soldier would tell of his adventures in the field, the victories and losses of battle, the new people he was meeting. . . Everything that a son would tell his mother. 

"He made so many people proud of him without knowing it. What he considered adequate, people around him found extraordinary. The letters that he would receive from his mother were always expressing how proud she was to have him as a son."

Rachel stopped to cough, the only difference from the last times was this time it sounded like she was. . .

"Mom?" Alex sat up and looked at his mother with worry.

"I am so proud of my little soldier," she said as soon as she found the time. "I love you so much."

"Are you --"

"Alexander you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I want you to know that I am so,  _so_  proud of you. . . You have done so much that I would only dream of doing." Her smile turned from relieved to bittersweet as she recounted everything mentally. "You are a wonderful student, friend, cousin, son. . ." She momentarily glanced at Thomas but said nothing.

"Thank you, but where is all of this coming from?" Alex laughed nervously and got off the bed to look at the machine that the tubes were connecting her to like he understood what all of it meant. The beeping representing her heartbeat started to become rapid and Thomas called for a nurse.

"I love you so much, I am so proud of you."

The nurse called a doctor, the doctor called for a cart, and soon there were doctors and nurses rushing around, shoving Alex away from his mother. He tried to squeeze back through only to get pushed back. Thomas grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the wall so the nurses and doctors could do their job. Of course, Hamilton wasn't just going to stand there, so he struggled to the point where Thomas had to wrap his arms around Alex's waist to keep him out of the way.

"What are you doing, Jefferson, let me go! I need to see her!" Alex tried to squirm away. "Mom! Don't leave me, please!  _Mom_!"

Through the wall of doctors, Rachel turned to look at her son one last time. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I love you so much," she repeated.

Suddenly, everything stopped as the rapid beeping was replaced by one constant sound. One of the nurses turned to face the men standing in the corner, her face was dark like she just got back from three consecutive funerals.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"What do you mean?! You're supposed to be reviving her, bringing her back, stop just standing there!" Alex shouted again.

"She is--  _was_ , uhm, DNR?" The nurse said, glancing nervously at the floor. She went on to explain that since he was underage when the forms were signed, he didn't get a say in what happened. That was up to Peter and Rachel. Alexander tuned her out for the majority of it, only processing that his cousin signed for  _his_ mother to be given up on. "I am very sorry for your loss."

"No. No! No, the wires and the-- the tubes they just need to be readjusted, she's fine! Please, let me see her! She'll be fine if you'd just let me see her. Mom!"

"Alex, come on--" Thomas tried guiding him out of the room.

"No, you shut up, she's still breathing! She's tough!"

"Alex, we need to go. . ."

"I'm not leaving her! She needs me, let go! Mom, please don't leave me,  _please_!" Hamilton kicked against Thomas's grip as he was dragged from the room. "Mom, I need you! Don't leave me here alone, me and Peter need you, please!" 

 

 

By the time Alexander was in the car, his kicking and fighting against Thomas's grip were reduced to weak begging to let him go back. He leaned his head back on the headrest and tried to stop himself from crying. 

He was thankful for Thomas not trying to start up any conversation. The only conversation that he wanted have was one with Peter about why he thought it would be okay to do that without consulting the recipient's son, her only child that really cared. It wasn't  _his_ choice to make what happened to Rachel. 

Rachel wasn't  _Peter's_ mom.

Rachel was only his aunt. Obviously, he wasn't going to have the same connection as mother and son. He shouldn't have gotten to make the decision that would affect Alex the most. 

 

 

When they got back to the apartment, Peter was hunched over the counter and Alex felt waves of different emotions over him. Anger, relief, sadness. . . Sadly, the only emotion that was successfully acted on was anger. 

"DNR?!" Alex shouted at his cousin. "You didn't think to tell me that my mother was a fucking  _DNR_ patient?!"

Peter turned around, shoving whatever was in his hands back into the drawer with a harsh slam.  Alex stormed away from Thomas, letting go of the hand he didn't realize he was holding. 

"That wasn't your call to make," he continued. "you aren't her son! You haven't been through what I have with her, you shouldn't have gotten to make that decision!"

"Al, I know you're angry with me--"

"You're damn right I'm angry! I take up those stupid jobs again to help you and to keep her alive, and then I figure out that they couldn't even  _try_  to bring her back because of what you did! I didn't even hear it from you, either, no you kept it from me! I hope you're proud of your big decision! Where the hell were you when it took effect!"

"I had something important that I needed to--" Peter's face lost its color. "Wait, Rachel? Is she. . ."

"Yeah," Hamilton spat. "Thanks for being there. I'm not sure what was so goddamn important that you had to miss--" he stopped for a second when his voice broke. "--that you had to miss that, but I sure hope that it was worth it." 

Without another word, Alexander stomped out of the room and into his and Peter's shared bedroom. Since Alex and Thomas had been staying there, Peter took over the couch in the living room, so he didn't really have to worry about that too much.

The light was off in the room and Alex didn't have the motivation to turn it on. Instead, he sat down on the edge of his bed and grabbed fistfuls of his hair as he cried. The weight of everything that had happened to him seemed to come crashing down on him with the same weight as when they first happened. Even the small things that didn't bother him much, like his father leaving, made Hamilton want to punch something.


	19. Hamilton

In the morning, Alexander woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed and well-rested.

Then he remembered what happened the day before and he flopped back onto the pillow and wanted to go back to sleep for the rest of the day. For once, the possibility of having nightmares didn't necessarily worry him. He was almost back to sleep when a soft knock came at the bedroom door.

"What?" he shouted. He rolled his eyes when no one answered. "Come in!"

The door slowly opened and Thomas came into the room carrying a tray. "I noticed you had some cocoa powder in the kitchen, and Peter told me to just help myself to whatever. . . I figured you might want some hot chocolate?"

Hamilton winced slightly as he remembered yelling at his last living family member. He was still beyond angry with his cousin, but now they're all the other has left. They'd have to stick together for the rest of the time they had left, right?

Thomas flipped on the light and Alexander squinted at the sudden brightness. He took one of the cups off the tray and nodded at the other man to thank him.

"Where is Peter, anyway?" Alex asked after taking a sip of the cocoa, which tasted like peppermint and cream along with the cocoa. He knew that there wasn't any peppermint or sweet cream in the kitchen. The realization then led to the thought that they didn't even have hot cocoa, Peter never bought that until at least November when things  _really_ started getting cold.

"He left for a walk a while ago." Jefferson kept his stare on his cup while talking, probably to avoid eye contact. "How you holdin' up?"

Hamilton shrugged and took another drink, falling even more in love with the chocolate than his bed. "About as well as you'd expect, I guess. The five stages of loss just sorta keep going through me. One minute I'm telling myself it's a dream, the next I want to yell at someone for not doing something. I actually considered praying last night, which isn't exactly a common thing but. . ." he stopped and laughed without any humor. "Yeah, I'm doing about as well as you'd expect, I guess."

It was quiet for a few minutes while the two finished the hot cocoa. It's not like either of them was complaining about the silence, they were still technically supposed to hate each other. As far as Alexander knew, Jefferson was just acting nicer because of the death, not because he really cared about how Alex was feeling. And as far as Alexander knew, Jefferson didn't know about the phone call with John.

Suddenly, Thomas stood up. "Okay, come on. We've got things to do today."

"Like what?"

"I'm taking you out. You can't keep yourself locked inside because of this, no matter how much you want to."

Alexander frowned. "It's been less than a day."

"And the best way to prevent it from happening is to stop it before it starts."

"Jefferson, really I don't--"

"Alright, you don't have to go. If you want to go, though, I'll wait out in the living room for an hour, so you have time to decide." He picked up the tray and without another word left the room.

Alex watched as the door closed and flopped onto his back, enjoying how he slightly sunk into the bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the light was still on so it wasn't totally dark with his eyes closed. If anything it looked more red. He sat there for around half an hour, trying to go back to sleep. After that time, he gave up and decided to take a shower.

That took about fifteen minutes. Not nearly as long as he wanted it to. By the time he was done, he decided to just get dressed and go with Thomas to wherever and get it over with. He figured that his mother wouldn't want him to sit around, wasting precious time that could be used to do something more productive, not when everyone knew she wasn't going to make it anyway. That didn't make it hurt any less.

Like he promised, Thomas was sitting patiently on the couch, sweater on and keys in his hand.

"Where are we going?" Alexander asked, making Jefferson jump.

"Just on a drive until we find something to do."

"You have the money for that?"

"Yeah, I'll just have to skip out on hair gel for a week," Thomas joked. Alex couldn't but smile.

"Oh wow, you don't hate me! I must be high up on your Favorite People list, huh? You're giving up hair gel!" He cheered sarcastically. Thomas looked confused for a second.

"Why would you say I hate you?"

"I have an alphabetized list of all the times that you've said that you hated me in the last few months. Or do you want that sorted by date? I have them in order of passion, too, by the way. Or if you prefer--"

"Okay, I get it. Yeah, that would be a great reason to think that." Thomas shrugged and went to the door. "Well, I guess I've learned a lot about you because of this situation, so things change."

"Oh, please. Nothing's changed, you just feel bad for whatever situation you think that I 'didn't deserve'." Hamilton rolled his eyes, starting to question why he even wanted to go in the first place.

"Wait, do you actually think that you--"

"Let's just go before I change my mind."

Thomas nodded and followed Alexander out of the building.   
  
  
  


After a couple of hours of driving and stopping at various restaurants and stores, neither of the men had any bags because they were both broke as hell. The day was mostly wasted trying on obnoxious combinations of clothes like they were in some '80s chick-flick movie montage. Cat eye glasses and bright yellow tight pants were a huge hit with them, along with fluffy pink boa scarves.

"Want to pick up something to eat for when we get back?" Alex asked. "I should probably apologize to Peter and he's got a soft spot for fortune cookies."

Thomas nodded with a laugh. "Yeah, I don't mind."

Hamilton pulled out his phone to call his cousin.

"That's weird," he muttered.

"What?" Thomas glanced quickly away from the road at the passenger's side of the car.

"Voicemail. I know he always has his phone on him. . ." Alex tried again, only to get the same result. "It just keeps going to voicemail."

"Okay, let's not freak out just yet, maybe he just misplaced it or he's taking a nap or something."

Alex nodded. He set the phone down, glancing down at it nervously now and then.

"Hey, can I drop you off first? I can grab the food, you can apologize to Peter while I'm doing that, plus we'll pass it anyway. I think you two need some alone time to talk all that out," Thomas suggested, quickly glancing at the passenger's seat. Alex nodded and Thomas dropped him off at the apartment.

Hamilton knew Peter was home because he saw the car sitting in the parking space. Alex told Thomas what to get and watched him drive away before taking the stairs to the apartment. He wanted to take the stairs to go over what he'd say to his last living member of his family. He was still mad, and he'd probably stay mad, but that really didn't make him feel any better about the fight. He didn't even give Peter the chance to explain himself and why he helped Rachel sign the papers.

Alexander took another second to think about what he wanted to say before he actually entered the apartment. After deciding on what he wanted, he opened the door and saw Peter sleeping on the couch. He considered letting him sleep because if he was tired enough to sleep on the old couch, he probably needed the rest, but he had a limited amount of time before Thomas came back with food.

He went over and hesitated before shaking his cousin's shoulder lightly. He didn't get a response, so he tried with a little more force. He kept getting progressively more forceful with shaking and telling him to wake up until he noticed the almost empty pill bottle tipped over on the floor. He quickly checked Peter's pulse.

Nothing.

All the panic and sense drained away from Hamilton and he dialed the emergency number to report his cousin's suicide. He felt surprisingly calm as the operator told him to "hold tight". Not like she could see him, but he nodded and hung up the phone.

"You sick son of a bitch," he muttered, not really thinking of what he was saying.

He sat there until the cops showed up, staring at Peter's pale face. His eyes were closed, but Hamilton could imagine them snapping open, staring into his own eyes and dragging him down too.

Everything seemed to go by so fast that it was going slowly. Paramedics put Peter into a body bag and carried him away, Alex staring at them the entire time. Thomas came back and was saying something that Alex wasn't really taking in. He just occasionally shrugged, wondering why he was being so calm. He knew that he should be hysterical, he should be breaking down and screaming on the floor, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything.

He stepped away from Thomas, still not processing anything that was being said. He grabbed the only family picture that he had and went to the bedroom. Thomas didn't follow him. Or he didn't notice if Thomas followed him, either way, he just stared at the photo, imagining red exes over the faces of everyone other than himself.

Over everyone that's either left or died.


	20. Jefferson

The ride back was close to silent. No music, no conversation, no insults. 

Alexander just stared blankly at the dashboard with his knees pulled to his chest. The tear stains on his cheeks seemed to be permanent, they hadn't left at all since the first death. 

Thomas wanted to say something comforting. He wanted to tell Alex that things would be alright and that he'd survived this much, he could survive more. But then he remembered the conversation on the ride to the hospital initially, how Hamilton talked about how bad it would be if he lost his cousin and his mother. 

Not only did he lose both of them, he lost them in the same week. He had to go their funerals on the same day. He lost his entire family in one trip. Thomas couldn't imagine the guilt and blame that Alexander was putting on himself.

 

 

When they were back on campus, Thomas guided the two of them back to their room. Alex's stare rested on the ground while Jefferson pushed him along by the back, giving warning glances to the people that he recognized to tell them that it wouldn't be a great time to talk. 

They got into their room and that's when Thomas decided to talk. 

"Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked gently, talking like he was handling a noise activated bomb. "We could run up to the video shop if you want."

"You go, I just want to go back to sleep." Hamilton's voice was hoarse like he'd been screaming for hours on end, which is the exact opposite of what happened. He dropped like deadweight onto his bed and pulled the blankets up to his ears. 

Thomas sighed. "You understand that I can't leave you alone while you're like this, right? I know that this situation sucks for you but--"

"I'm not going to kill myself." 

Thomas hesitated for a second before saying, "I didn't say that."

"No, but it was pretty heavily implied. Let me ask you this, whose funeral did I just have to go to? The fact that you can even say 'which one' is beyond upsetting, but what's worse is that you're talking about me killing myself when I  _just_ saw my cousin, the closest thing that I've ever had to real a sibling and overall friend, being lowered into the dirt for that exact reason. So no,  _Thomas_ , I'm not going to kill myself." Alex pulled the blanket over his face and turned to face the wall. "Just go visit your sisters or something and leave me alone."

"I know you didn't mean that Alex," Thomas said lightly. 

"How do you know? Before we even went on that stupid trip, you hated me and I hated you. And another thing, would you quit talking to me like I'm five? I'm an adult. Stop pretending like you actually care about this and leave."

Jefferson wasn't going to deny the fact that he was definitely talking to Alexander like he was five. It was the same exact voice that would use on Anna or Randolph whenever something went wrong with one of them. It was supposed to be calming, but Hamilton didn't seem very calm or amused, so he tossed the script and went off of what he thought would be the right things to say. 

Thomas rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of Alex's bed. "I'm not leaving."

"Now really isn't the time for you to be a stubborn ass." the shorter man scooted closer to the wall. 

"Now is the best time for me to be a stubborn ass." Thomas flopped down onto his back. "You're upset. Beyond upset, probably, and I get that! I can't say I understand how you feel, but I know that you don't really want to be alone right now. Since I'm closer than the rest of your friends, you're stuck with me."

It took a while for Alexander to reply. It took so long that Jefferson was falling asleep when finally turned over and rested his head on Thomas's shoulder. His face immediately went red. Thomas glanced down at Alex's face. Now that he could really see it up close, he saw that his eyes were puffy and red from crying and the bottoms were dark and heavy, probably from the emotional stress.

"You know, you probably aren't a total snob."

"That's new, usually, I get 'pompous douchebag.'" Thomas smiled when Alex let out a small laugh, even though it was followed by a sniffle. "Anyway, nope. Not a snob. Pompous douchebag, however, is still on the table."

"Oh, shut up. I still want to take a nap and I will push you off of the bed." 

"I'll take your word for it," Thomas snickered. He was originally planning on going to sleep too, but someone obviously didn't care much since there was a knocking at the door. Jefferson had to stop himself from laughing when Hamilton sat up and muttered a barely audible 'Who the fuck.'

He hopped off the bed, leaving Alex leaning against the wall with a death glare set on the door. Thomas opened the door and was met with the building's RA. 

"Mr. Jefferson, we need you and your dormmate down in the commons for a mandatory meeting." the man craned his neck to get a better view of the room. For some reason, it set Thomas on-edge so he blocked the view.

"Now's really not a good time--"

"I'm just going to stop you there, do you know what 'mandatory' means?" 

"Yeah, I do. Aren't you supposed to send out a warning e-mail or something beforehand?" Thomas asked, before throwing in an insult mocking the other man's voice. "Benedict?"

"I did. It's not my fault you didn't read it. You've got ten minutes to be down there, it's important." Benedict turned around to start walking away before he said, "And don't call me that."

"That's your name!" Thomas shouted as he watched Benedict walk away. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned back inside the room at Alex. "Mandatory meeting."

"I can pretend that I don't speak English.  _Est-_ ce  _convaincant_?" 

"Considering everyone here knows you speak English? No. I don't think we have much of a choice here. And I'd really rather not figure out what happens when we don't go to that. It's probably nothing all that important anyway, maybe somebody keeps stealing snacks from the kitchen or whatever. Let's just get it over with." 

"Fine, but I'm not putting on shoes." 

 

 

When they got down to the commons, they figured that it might be a little more than stealing food from the kitchen.

Thomas took two of the empty seats toward the front so he could get the best view. Alex was back to not looking at anything in particular and not noticing anything unless it was directly in his eyesight, which was again fixated on the floor. He leaned on Thomas's shoulder, probably still hoping to get some sleep but most likely not going to.

Three police officers stood at the doors, talking in hushed whispers amongst themselves. It wasn't until Benedict actually yelled at everyone to quiet down did the group of officers come to face the group. As she made her way up, Thomas kept an eye on Benedict, who was still staring at him with the same look as he had when he was in the hallway. He looked weirdly predatory to Thomas, and he didn't have any idea why someone would be looking at him like that. 

Or why someone would look at Alexander like that.

"Okay, I'm sure none of you want to be here but all of you want to know what's happening, so I'm just going to jump right in," one of the officers started, taking Jefferson's attention away from the creepy guy. She waved one of the other cops over and he pushed a whiteboard on wheels over. "As some of you may have heard, there have been reports of your peers. . . going missing." 

The officer pushed a button on a remote and a projector that Thomas hadn't noticed came on, showing the pictures of four people. She went through the first three profiles without much of a reaction from either Thomas or Alexander. 

The last name got Alex's attention. 

"Samuel Seabury." 

Alexander's head shot up and he stared at the picture on the board like he was expecting it to start moving. Thomas momentarily glanced at Alex, then moved his eyes to the board, then to Benedict, who was texting someone on his phone. He didn't know if it was coincidence or not, but as soon as Benedict looked up from his phone and back at the two, Alex pulled out the grey iPhone and his face went from fear and anger to something unreadable.

"He was supposed to be visiting family over the weekend," the officer in front of the board continued. "but he never arrived there and he never came back to the campus."

"Who reported it?" Hamilton asked.

"His roommate, Charles Lee."

Someone from the back of the room raised his hand. "Yeah, what exactly does this have to do with us? Isn't it usually the girls that have to worry about this shit?"

A chorus of 'really dude's and 'asshole's rang throughout the group. He raised his hands in defense and tried to argue, only to be cut off by the lead officer. 

"It has to do with you because we're asking that everyone follow a stricter and earlier curfew from now until further notice," she said with more confidence than before. "And yes, typically when you think of a kidnapping you think of a tiny blonde on her way home from a party, but these are both men and women being abducted and they're still your peers, regardless of gender. Keep that in mind." 

 

The lecture dragged on, slowly becoming less and less engaging. Thomas looked over at Alex, who was still staring at the screen with the unreadable emotion.

Thomas didn't know which scared him more, angry and scared Hamilton or the Hamilton that didn't show anything. 

He shook that thought from his head and looked up at the RA, who was back to staring.

The officer at the front clapped her hands. "We're asking for volunteers to help look for the poor victims--"

"I'll do it!" Benedict shouted, throwing his hand in the air. 

"Perfect! The rest of you can go, if you want to sign up, the sheet is by the door. Please consider it!" 

Thomas glanced at less than half of the group going to sign up. They probably got more of a reaction at the girls' dorms, which meant that he could definitely expect a motherly call from Jane telling him and Alex to be careful.

For one last insurance, he looked at Benedict and, to Thomas's surprise, he was already gone.


	21. Hamilton

Alexander didn't really want to go anywhere, but with the text that he got during the meeting, he decided that it was important. He stopped by the dorm only to grab a pair of shoes and a sweater because of the cold weather. He didn't pay attention to which sweater he grabbed, and he didn't care. Had it been the middle of summer, he probably would have just went barefoot without anything over a short sleeve shirt. 

The text message wouldn't leave his mind. It was like any other text that he'd gotten for a job up until this point, but somehow it set him on edge. Probably because it didn't give him a real  _job_  to do. He just had to meet someone at a place and that was it. The place, obviously, being the Hip Stir. That just seemed like the designated meeting place for anyone on campus.

Hamilton went in and nervously looked around. Nobody seemed to be too suspicious, but they all had something in common. 

"Drinks," Alex muttered to himself. He made his way up to the counter to get a drink that he didn't even plan on consuming. He only wanted it so he wouldn't look suspicious to anyone because he was just sitting alone in a cafe with nothing in his hand. 

When he was at the counter, he remembered that John worked there. 

"Oh, hey Ham," John said softly. He looked down at what Alex was wearing in almost a sad way before focusing in on his friend's face. "How you doin'?"

"I'm fine, thanks. It's not like I didn't see it coming anyway," Hamilton muttered back. It's not like it was a total lie. 

John smiled sympathetically. "Well, you still have your cousin, right? That's a plus." 

"Actually, he uhm. . . He passed on, too." Alex looked at the menu to avoid eye contact and use gravity against the inevitable tears that he was waiting for. 

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't-- I didn't know. . ." 

"No, you're right, you didn't know. It's not your fault, John, but I could really use some caffeine right now." 

John nodded and handed Alexander the cup. John already knew what to make since Alex never ordered anything else. 

"I got it, you just go relax or something," Laurens offered when Alex pulled out his wallet. He cut in again before Alexander could refuse it. "Really, Ham. You need it, and I have no problem paying to feed your caffeine addiction." 

Hamilton smiled gratefully and took the cup. He stepped out of the line so the next person could step up and looked around for a table that wasn't around anyone. He got a few worried looks as he walked by and he honestly had no clue what they were for, the jobs or the fact that he looked like walking death. He didn't care too much to find out. 

He sat down at a table that was at the very back of the place, near the bathrooms. Alex focused on reading various people's shirts, still having no interest in the drink. It was surprising. No matter how much sleep he'd gotten in the last week, he still felt like he was going on two hours, yet knowing that there was caffeine in his drink just made him want to throw up. That really applied to anything that he could eat or drink, there just wasn't any appetite for anything. 

Hamilton was about to fall asleep on the table when someone sat down suddenly in front of him, making him jump. He almost jumped even higher when he saw who it was. He knew it wasn't who he was waiting for, but that didn't have any effect on the fear and guilt. 

In front of him were the older two Schuyler sisters. 

"Hello, Alexander," Eliza muttered. She sounded like she was trying to be angry but it was slipping away. 

"Eliza," he said. It was more like breathed it like he was seeing a ghost of someone he loved. In some ways, he was.

"We heard about your mother," Angelica murmured, reaching across the table to pat Alex's hand. "We know how close you were to her." 

Hamilton only nodded. 

"It must be very hard for you and Peter," Eliza said. Hamilton wished people would stop talking about Peter, but he knew that they meant well. 

"Peter actually caved in under all of the. . . All of the stress that he probably felt, keeping Mom alive and all. . ." Alex decided that stress was a better story than what really happened, apparently, it was because the sisters didn't ask any more questions on the 'how' of the situation. 

"Wait, are you saying," Eliza paused to look at her sister and back at Alexader. She lowered her voice and continued, "did Peter. . . ?" 

She didn't need to say anything for Hamilton to know what she was talking about. He nodded again. Before he knew it, Eliza was on the other side of the table giving him a hug. 

"I am so, so sorry for your losses," she whispered. In contrast to everyone else, her words seemed sincere. Eliza hesitated before talking again. "We're always here if you need any help." 

Angelica nodded in agreement and smiled when the look of realization washed over Alexander. He didn't want to say anything about forgiveness in case Eliza would change her mind, so he just hugged her back.

"How about a change of subject?" Angelica suggested. 

"That sounds wonderful," Alex agreed.

"Okay, remember you agreed to it though. Does Mr. McDreamy have a new boyfriend?" Angelica teased. She pointed to the jacket that he was still wearing when he looked confused. 

Alex looked down at his jacket and his face went as red as a boiled lobster. He grabbed Thomas's Letterman, which explained why it was so baggy. When he tried to deny what Angelica had said, it came out more stutter-y that he wanted, which made the girls laugh.

"Maybe you could teach Thomas Jefferson a thing or two about feminism for us, huh, Alexander?" Angelica laughed.

"Okay, I do  _not_  like Jefferson--"

"I recognize that jacket and, really, would you be so quick to deny it if it wasn't true?" Angelica pointed out. 

Alex looked at Eliza worriedly, but she had the same smug look as her sister.

"Fine, maybe a little bit, but the jacket has nothing to do with it!" 

"Whatever you say, Lex," Eliza laughed. 

The three kept talking and catching up on things until it felt like they were just three old friends that were meeting up again. The work phone buzzed in Alex's pocket, immediately killing his mood. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, holding it in a way that neither of the girls would be able to see it. 

_From: M.  
_ _outside._

One word and Hamilton's mood was ruined. He looked up and saw a familiar mop of brown hair pressed against the glass. 

"I actually, I need to go." Hamilton grabbed his cup and stood up. Eliza moved to let him through. 

Before he could walk away, she put a hand on his shoulder. 

"I wouldn't be complaining if you'd join Angelica and I for lunch sometime? As friends."

Alex nodded dumbly. "As friends," he agreed.

He hugged each of the sisters one last time before heading out of the building and walking with Maria, who apparently already started walking. Neither of them said anything for the first few minutes of walking. Then Maria started teasing Alex for hanging back with the Schuylers.

"Don't want a repeat of the past, do we Hammy?" She'd say.

 

 

Alexander probably should have left when Maria led him to a fraternity house. It looked respectable, but if you've seen any of those cheesy college movies, nothing good happens at the fraternity houses. 

"So, what is this?" Alex asked as he was led inside. "Another job?"

"Sorta kinda." Maria shrugged and someone else that Alex didn't recognize walked up to them. 

"Can I take your jacket?" he asked quietly. Alexander put his hands in the pockets and folded them together so the jacket was wrapped around him. 

"I'd rather keep it on, thanks," he muttered defensively.

The man moved and came up behind Hamilton, forcefully taking off the jacket. 

"It's considered secretive, he doesn't like secretive." The man muttered as he walked away with the jacket.

Maria guided him into the main room and lightly shoved him toward a chair. 

"Sit down," she said. "He'll be in in a sec to talk to you." 

Hamilton watched as she walked off. He sat by himself for maybe ten minutes before someone finally came in and sat in the chair that was directly across from him.

"So you're the infamous Hamilton, are you?" the man asked rhetorically. "You look beyond promising." 

"Promising?"

"For a member of what we have. Before you were just a client, but now I think you should become a functioning member! Typically, you'd have to be with us for maybe a year before we even consider you, but from what Miss Lewis has told us?" the man smiled sinisterly. "I'm willing to make an exception." 

"Exception," Alexander repeated. 

"Yes. Keep in mind your answer will sway how you leave this building." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Or  _if_  you leave this building." 

Alex was going to accuse him of making a threat on school grounds, but the man interrupted before he could say anything else. 

"Oh, darling, don't look so worried. The title, it's just insurance! We need to make certain that you won't tell anyone about how much we're helping the crowd here, the government would not be happy with how we're fixing their problems." he shrugged and leaned back in his seat lazily. 

"So this is illegal?

"We try not to focus on the labels."

"I. . . I don't know." 

"Oh, come _on_! What's the trouble? With your family gone, you don't have anyone holding you back, do you?"

Hamilton's mind immediately went to Thomas and how much he would hate if Alex got deeper into the job ring. He thought of the Schuylers and how they would retract their forgiveness for getting deeper into the situation. Despite his family being gone, like the man graciously pointed out, they wouldn't be happy about it either. 

He didn't want to make the decision, so he instinctively went to put his hands in his pockets and burrow into the jacket. He felt even more exposed when it wasn't there. Thomas had been like a comfort blanket for the past week, the jacket was almost like taking Thomas with him without really taking Thomas with him. Now he felt completely exposed without either of them to count on.

"Hamilton, your 'friends' would already hate you if they knew that you doing the jobs again, to begin with. Jefferson is the perfect example of that, so why not just go the extra mile. It's safer this way, we'll go through all your jobs to see which ones are a waste of your time and you get to help us out as well!" The man clapped his hands together and stood up. "You'll regret saying no, Alexander, you think about that before you answer." 

"I need to know that if something goes to shit I don't have to worry about the people I care about getting hurt."

The man looked annoyed but he kept on the obnoxious smile. "Nothing's going to hurt anyone you care about, dear."

"I don't care, I'm not joining unless you say it."

The smile stayed but he looked ready to attack Alex. "Fine. Who did you have in mind?"

"John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan, and Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, all of the Jeffersons, and all of the Schuylers." Hamilton made sure to say all of Lafayette's names, just to avoid any loopholes.

"Fine, yes, we have a deal. All of the people you mentioned will stay safe, yadda yadda yadda," he shrugged and went right back to the other subject. "Now what do you say, Hamilton? Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, I guess." 

"Wonderful!" the man went over to stand in front of Alex. He held out his hand for a handshake. "I look forward to having you here. I'll be your new boss, and you should address me with King. Nothing more. Is that understood?" 

 _A little full of yourself, huh_? Alex thought. He just nodded and shook King's hand.

"Miss Lewis will be your mentor until you understand how we run." 

With that, he walked away. The man from before, the one that took the jacket, came back with Maria and handed Alexander the jacket back. Maria held out her hand to help him out of the seat. He didn't take it and just started walking away from her. She caught up and started going off about things that she'd do to help him out, mostly sending texts for meets.

"Don't try to leave. you can if you want, but that'll have consequences. You agreed. You're with us now, Alex," Maria warned, before slamming the door in Alexander's face.

 


	22. Jefferson

Thomas sat patiently in the room, waiting for Alex to come back. He felt like a parent waiting for their teenage kid to come home from a party, but he had no idea where his roommate went and after the past week, he had an overwhelming sense of "I need to keep that idiot safe" toward Hamilton. 

It might not have been such a mystery as to why, though. Jefferson thought back to the day Alexander's mom died and how she asked him to get her a glass of water that she never even touched. There was a reason behind that. Rachel wanted to have a conversation that she thought was important and she didn't want her son to hear. 

Thomas remembered how she looked, frail and scared, it was like she let everything go as soon as her reason to stay strong left the room. She didn't look like she wanted to die, she probably didn't want to leave her family behind. . . If only she knew that it didn't take Peter long to follow her. 

Jefferson made her a promise that day. She specifically asked him to watch over her son and make sure he stayed out of trouble. Thomas wondered why she didn't ask Peter. Maybe because he wasn't there or maybe because, deep down, she knew what was coming for her nephew as well. Either way, she made it very clear that Thomas needed to be the one to make sure Alex was doing alright with anything he needed. 

Despite what Hamilton thought, Thomas did care, at least somewhat. It did seem a little suspicious since it took up until this point for Thomas to even consider the fact that maybe hating Alex wasn't the way to go. He liked to think that it was because of how much he learned about his roommate. 

Before the trip, Thomas could have made a five-page full paragraph presentation on why he thought Alexander Hamilton was nothing more than a spoiled rich kid that got his allowance taken away so he took up jobs from other people to get more. He seemed like the person that would do anything for money, which wasn't completely off, he just didn't do it for himself. Ninety percent of the money he made probably went to his family. 

It was admirable to a point, but there was also the dangerous part that probably kept Peter up at night, knowing that part of his family was going out doing these jobs that could get him arrested or in the worst cases death. Thomas was getting anxious just thinking about that and really he wasn't even supposed to like Alexander. 

Still, though, he was sitting up close to midnight waiting for Alex to come back and prove he was alive. Stupid morals, getting in the way of sleep.

He stood up, deciding that sitting and waiting was doing nothing to calm his nerves. Instead, he started pacing around the entire room. He ran a hand through his hair and started thinking of reasons that Hamilton would be gone for what was now five hours. It was still the weekend, so classes wouldn't be an option. Running around to get things from teachers, maybe. 

That seemed like the most reasonable assumption, but still. With the apparent disappearances going on, anything could have happened. 

The thought of Alexander being kidnapped put Thomas even more on edge than he already was. He pulled out his phone, ready to dial in Hamilton's number and yell at him for ignoring the new curfew that was just set not even twelve hours ago. 

Before he could do anything, though, he realized he didn't even know what number to call. They'd been living together for how long and Thomas had no clue how to get a hold of him. Luckily for him, Alex walked in right after he put the phone away. 

"Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Thomas whisper-yelled, careful not to disturb any of the surrounding rooms. 

"Yeah, time for you to stop acting like my mom," Alex spat, flinging himself into his bed and hiding under the covers again. Thomas sighed and sat down next to him. 

"Okay, something's wrong." 

"What did I  _just_ say?" Hamilton growled. 

"You're using your mom as an insult, after this last week if you have any respect for her, you wouldn't. What's up?"

It was Alex's turn to sigh as he sat up, still keeping the blanket wrapped around himself. 

"Why are you acting like you care about this all of the sudden? What changed your mind about hating me?" 

Of all the things that Hamilton could have said, Thomas wasn't expecting that one. He had answers lined up in case he said something along the lines of "I hate you," or "get out of my face," or even "hey let's go get dinner tomorrow and talk about shit."

"Well, uhm, I mean. . . I don't know, I guess I learned more about you after the past week? It's really not an act, you get to know someone and you'll probably start caring about them."

Alex hummed in response and flopped back down. "Then tell me about you." 

"Wow, you don't care about me, that's cool. I see how it is, I didn't care anyway," Thomas said sarcastically, going to sit on his own bed. 

"Just tell me about yourself, asshole." Despite the annoyed tone, Thomas could see Alex holding back a smile. 

"Well, my name's Thomas--"

"Thanks, I thought you were Mary," Hamiton said sarcastically. "I mean like what's  _really_  you. All that deep shit that you don't tell anyone. You went to my entire family's shared funeral, I don't want to know your name."

Thomas stopped for a second. He didn't really know if he could trust Alex with that information, but he had a point. After considering it for a second, he continued. 

"Okay. . . You already know that I don't remember my dad, so I guess I can start with that. Mom never remarried and she became a little dependant on strangers. One night stands and all that. There were times where she wouldn't come home for days at a time, but when she did she would just give Jane money and leave. Let's see, I've got nine siblings total, but, uhm, only seven are actually alive. When I was around five-ish, my mom lost two sons and that really. . . She wasn't the same after that. She got way into alcohol and that's where we got Elizabeth, Martha, Lucy, Randolph, and Anna. They don't really even know Mom, they just know that Jane isn't supposed to be their mom. Jane passed the responsibility to Mary when she left. Mary passed it to me, I passed it to my younger sister Elizabeth. Right now, she's probably fighting to keep herself awake to do homework or something. . ." 

Thomas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess my goal is to get them out of that. Buy a house, take all of em in. . ."

"Get onto Easy Street?" Alex realized quietly. 

"Yeah. So, you know, flirt with everyone. Maybe someone with money'll come around and get me there."

Thomas had to admit, saying all that out loud to a real person did feel refreshing. Despite all of Mary and Jane's efforts, neither of them  _really_  knew how it affected their brother. Thomas and Mary had always had the sort of relationship where neither of them had to say when they were upset, and they never really had to do anything about it either. They would sit with each other until whoever was upset felt better. Maybe have a conversation. Really, it depended on the severity of the situation.

Like when Jane first left. Thomas remembered waking up for something in the middle of the night Jane left to see Mary still sitting awake in the living room. They both knew that she got it the easiest, she'd only have to keep everything running for a year, but that didn't help her relax at all. Thomas didn't say anything that night, he just went over and sat next to her with his head on her shoulder until they fell asleep. 

Jane just never really had the time to listen to everything wrong with each and every one of her younger siblings, that's where everyone else pitched in.

"Wait so then how do you have enough money for all the designer, on-brand clothes that you have?" 

Thomas had to smile. "Jane didn't want any of us to be made fun of for not having enough money to buy clothes that weren't from resale stores, so she sewed some of the tags inside our clothes." 

Alexander was quiet for a solid minute before he did anything. Then, without a word, he went over and laid down next to Jefferson. 

"Life sucks." 

"Yeah, it really does. But we're supposed to make the most of it or whatever."

"Sounds lame."

"Agreed." 


	23. Maria

"We can't just leave him down there, James! Someone's going to notice!" Maria practically shouted at her boyfriend. "It's cruel, he didn't do anything to any of us." 

James turned around to face her instead of trying to walk away. "Someone's going to notice if you don't keep your mouth shut. King thinks he did something, so he did. That's that, Lewis. Drop it." 

"But he didn't--" 

"I said drop it!" Reynolds swung his arm back, smiling sickly when she blocked her face. "What is it that you tell the new members? 'You agreed to be here'? That goes for you too, you agreed to be here and you knew what that meant for you and for everyone involved."

Maria sighed and nodded. She agreed to be there and she had to deal with those consequences, even if it meant waiting for the day when they finally got shut down and sent to jail. People like their 'visitor' in the basement didn't deserve what was happening and, no matter what their slogan was, the organization wasn't helping anyone. 

Sure, it got people jobs, but if you ask the poor sap in the basement, he'd disagree heavily with feeling helped. 

"What if someone goes to the police? What are you going to do then?" 

James rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Maria's waste, forcing her closer to him. 

"Oh please, Mari, like the cops'll do anything. King's got what he needs to keep this thing floating, and you should really not question that. Not after all he's done for you, don't be selfish."

Maria only nodded again, trying to end the conversation before anything else happened. 

"Why don't we go back to the apartment, huh? Have some fun?" 

Maria pushed away, surprised when he actually let her. "You go, King probably needs me to do a few things for him first." 

Reynolds nodded before walking away. He didn't seem happy about it, but really there was no way to tell if she was telling the truth. King hated nothing more than to be questioned. 

Maria watched as left the room and listened to his footsteps recede down the stairs until finally a door opened and slammed shut. She quickly darted out of the room, peaking into all the other ones to make sure everyone else was either gone or asleep. Luckily for her, they were. 

She made her way into the kitchen and threw together a plate of things that King wouldn't know were missing and a glass of fresh water. She went to the cellar door, which was a removable piece of a wall in a closet covering an actual door, stopping only to think of how she could open it without any hands. Before she had any time to act on any of her bad ideas, a hand reached from behind to help.

Maria spun around, almost knocking everything out of her own hands in the process. She was dreading seeing Adams or King or even James standing behind her, instead, she saw a confused smile on the surprisingly handsome face of John Andre. She realized then that she knew too many Johns. 

"I just-- I can't just leave him down there for who knows how long with no food or water, it isn't right," she reasoned, trying her best to be as confident as possible. Andre was one of the newer members, so really she didn't have much to be afraid of, but being the only girl in the entire set up and spending the night with all of the men of the operation. . . Let's just say, she didn't have many fond memories to look back on since joining the organization. 

"I understand," he replied, taking the tray from her hands. He gestured down the dark stairs, careful to move the door as quickly as possible to avoid the squeaking. "It does seem a bit harsh to keep him locked up down here." 

Maria focused on his accent. He was from the same area as King, so the accent was the same, but somehow it seemed nicer coming from Andre. Softer. 

As her eyes got used to the darkness of the room, Maria wanted to cry at the thought of anyone staying there. Rows of different "rooms" going down a hallway. There were only four doors, but that made her feel worse. There are enough cells for four people to be kept. It was surprisingly complicated for a college campus's torture trap. She tiptoed across the floor to the first door and handed the tray to Andre before opening the door slowly, careful not to startle the man cowering in the corner. The only reason she could get in was that Reynolds would say anything drunk, including the code to get in the rooms.

The man had only been locked up a couple days, but with no windows, concrete walls, extreme lack of food and water, and whatever King came down to do? It was probably enough to drive anyone insane. She took the tray back and walked inside.

"Hi, there," Maria said softly. "How are you doing?" 

Despite her slow and soft speaking, he jumped back anyway, immediately begging her to leave him alone or let him go. She tried shushing him before he could wake anyone upstairs. 

"I brought you some food. You're probably hungry, aren't you?" she tried speaking quieter, which seemed to help calm his nerves. He scooted out from the corner slightly. "There you go," she praised. 

He took the tray quickly, digging into the small pieces of food. Maria motioned for Andre to hand her the cup of water. The man in the corner snatched it as soon as it was within reach. 

"Can you tell me your name?" Maria urged, still keeping her voice low and even. 

The man looked up from the tray. "Y-You don't know it? They didn't tell you?" 

"Nope. There's a reason I'm not allowed down here. Apparently, I 'get too attached to people' and I 'bring food when I'm not supposed to'." She smiled softly when the man let out a dry laugh. 

He gulped down more water and wiped his mouth before answering. "Samuel. . . Samuel Seabury." 

After a while of keeping her voice low and soft, Maria felt like she was talking to a child. "I'm Maria. You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm not gonna hurt you." 

John sat down next to her. 

"John Andre," he greeted. He obviously had no clue what he was doing. He held out his hand for a handshake, which made Sam even more panicky than he already was. Maria gently lowered his hand. 

"It's alright, Sam, we aren't going to hurt you. You need to remember our voices, so you don't panic when we come down to give you food and to help you." 

"Voices. . . Why can't I memorize your faces?"

Maria glanced nervously at John, hoping he would say something, but he looked as confused as Sam did. She sighed. "They-- King, he's planning on bringing more people in, I think. . . He might blindfold you so you can't recognize anyone." Samuel looked like he might start crying so she started talking before he had much of a chance. "But it's okay! John and I are going to help you, alright?"

"Help me," Samuel repeated slowly. "Help me. You can help me! Please, please you need to help me get out of here, please! I-- I have people out there that are-- they're probably worried! You can let me out, please!" 

Maria's face fell. "I'm sorry, we can't do that. King's got people all around. You wouldn't get very far without. . ." she trailed off, letting the idea die with the sentence. Something thudded upstairs. She scooped up all the dishes. "It's alright, we'll be back." 

She took the stairs two at a time with John, who quickly and quietly shut the door behind them before moving the wall and boxes back. He snatched the empty glass of water to make it look like they were just having a snack together in case someone was in the kitchen, which there was.

"What were you two doing?" Benedict asked, obviously wanting to catch them in a lie. 

"Miss Lewis was showing me how things operate here since I'll be joining you in your line of. . . Uhm, business." 

"Oh yeah? And what about the tray, huh?" 

"Humans do have to eat, you know," Maria snapped. She stepped past him and dropped the dishes into the sink before taking Andre by the wrist and dragging him outside. 

"You handled that very well, Miss," he said once they were far enough away from the house. Even though they were, they kept walking. 

"Don't be so formal, just say Maria," she growled.

"If you insist. I have to say, though, you're an impressive gal." 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" 

"With anyone outside of the cellar, you have this tough girl scene going on, but when you were talking to Samuel, you were talking like he was your own kid."

"Yeah, I guess it's just instinct. He's scared, he's scrawny, he looks like a kid. I've always wanted to have children, I guess. I'd suck as a parent though." 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Well, I'm in a probably illegal job ring, for one. What kind of role model is that?"

John Andre smiled sympathetically. "I think you'd make a lovely mother, Maria. Samuel warmed up to you way quicker than he did with me and you knew exactly how to handle his fear" 

"You really think so, huh?" she asked it like she was joking, but her face was hopeful. It was almost as if she was relying on someone to tell her she'd be a decent parent before she even considered it.

"I do, but I want to be the godfather to the little snot, in return for helping you with the 'visitors', deal?" He held out his hand for a handshake, this time the person on the receiving end didn't cower away. 

"Deal," she said happily. 


	24. Jefferson

As the autumn season went, Thomas got less and less sleep. Whether he was up all night studying for an exam or sitting with Alexander after a nightmare (which were becoming progressively more common and more severe), he was usually awake well into the night.

There were some nights where Thomas would actually get some sleep. He'd finish his studying early, it would seem like Alex was going to actually sleep through the night, he liked those nights because who wouldn't want an uninterrupted, catch-free full night's sleep?

Thomas put away his notebooks and glanced at his alarm clock. It was already three in the morning, which meant that his eyes were stinging from the strain and lack of sleep while Hamilton was snoring away on the other side of the room. Jefferson shut off the light and went to fall asleep in his own bed. 

As soon as his eyes were closed, there was familiar shuffling coming from the other side of the room. Thomas got up and turned the light back on and sat at the edge of the bed, ready for the moment that Alex would wake up trying to swim in his blankets. Sure enough, a minute later, the tossing and turning turned to mumbling which progressed to him actually crying in his sleep. 

But he wasn't awake. 

Typically, he'd wake himself up before he was to the point of sleep crying, but he stayed sleeping and moving under the blankets until Thomas felt the need to physically waking him up. It worked after a minute of trying, but he almost got punched in the face while Alex figured out that he was still in the dorm. Thomas sat at the end of Alexander's bed. 

"You good?" Thomas asked once Alex was somewhat calmed down. He shook his head. 

Thomas sighed and stood up before glancing down at the clock again. If it was both, there was practically no way that Hamilton would go back to sleep on his own. 

"How about a drive?" He offered.

"What about curfew?"

"We'll deal with it." 

"To where?"

"Anywhere, just a drive." Thomas grabbed his keys and threw a sweater at his roommate, who put it on without another word. 

It took everything they had not to laugh as they ducked by cameras and offices with their lights on hand in hand down the hallway. By nothing other than luck, they got out of the building without getting caught. They sat in the freezing car for a second, waiting for it warm up. After it did, they were off. 

After twenty minutes of driving to the sound of the radio, they decided to stop at the drive-thru for burgers at McDonald's, then they drove to a spot outside the city to sit in the now warm car and eat in peace. 

"So," Thomas started, swallowing a bite of his McDouble. "you've been having nightmares a lot more recently."

"And?"

"And I think you should see a psychiatrist." Hamilton flashed him a look but before he could say anything, Thomas was back to talking. "You have nightmares about God knows what practically every other day, your sleep schedule is shit, you lost your entire family in two days, you're obviously not over the hurricane, and you still have classes to do. That's a lot of stress."

"I don't need a shrink to tell me my mind is fucked, I have that much down," Alex muttered as he picked off a pickle from his burger. 

"Come on, Alex! It would help you get over some of that shit, you don't exactly have the greatest coping mechanisms." 

"They're fine."

"Staying up until you physically can't on nothing but spite and caffeine is not fine." 

"I don't need a psychiatrist!"

"Alex--"

"You know who sees psychiatrists? Neurotics. I'm not a neurotic and I don't need a psychiatrist!"

Thomas sighed as he realized that he probably wasn't getting anywhere with Alex.

"Fine, what's up with the jobs? You're going to stop doing them now, right?"

Alex looked nervous for a second. He set his burger down, patted his pockets, and pulled out both his phones before shoving them in the backseat under a giant blanket. 

"No, I'm not stopping them. The people that organized them actually took me in completely into their system. Said it'd be safer like that, they filter through all the job requests and tell me which ones aren't great choices." 

"You're kidding. Hamilton, you have to know that whoever is running that underground shit is just using you for money! He's just a sick son of a bitch--" 

Alex turned so quickly that Thomas actually thought he was about to get punched. "Don't say that, don't you fucking  _dare_ say that," he growled. It was so quiet and threating that Thomas almost wanted to leave the car. 

"Why do you care about what I say about them? They don't care about you, if you stop bringing money who knows what'll happen to you, you aren't anything than an income to them--" 

"It doesn't matter, just don't say that!" 

"No, it does matter! That's exactly what they are, they're just a bunch of mentally sick sons of bitches--"

"Stop saying that!" 

"--that don't give a flying fuck what happens to you--"

"Stop it!" 

"Why?!"

"Because that's the last thing I said to Peter, alright!?"

It got deadly quiet and for the first time, Jefferson noticed that Alexander was actually crying. Not just tears-in-the-eyes crying either, full streams running down his cheeks. 

"I don't. . . I don't know why I said that but I just, I don't know, I was just sitting there and I couldn't feel anything and I just-- I just said it. I wasn't thinking, and I don't know why I said it. . ."

"You were probably in shock or something, it's not your fault. . . But whatever they're forcing on you, you don't need to be there. They can't hurt you, trust me."

"I agreed to it." 

Jefferson almost choked on his burger. "why would you agree to that?! You don't need them anymore!" 

"I need to keep myself alive."

"I can help you with that!" 

"You have your own family to take care of and that family takes care of you, I'm not taking money from you or your family." Hamilton focused in on picking at his sandwich. 

Realization hit Thomas like a truck. 

"Sugar, they aren't going to be your family. They don't care what happens to you, they only care about how much money you're bringing in." 

"You don't know that."

"Why don't you come back home with me over Thanksgiving, then, huh? I can show what a  _real_  family would act like and you can tell me which you prefer. Deal?"

Hamilton was quiet. So quiet that Thomas thought he was trying to communicate telepathically. 

"I'll think about," he whispered. "Let's just go back now."

Thomas sighed and nodded, pulling off the side of the road to start the silent drive back.


	25. Hamilton

Alexander had been working twice as hard to keep his work as ahead as he could since the week he took to go visit his family. He couldn't afford to let the classes slip, even if he was seeing his family for the last time.

On top of the classes, he still had jobs to take care of. If he wasn't forcing himself to stay awake during a lecture, he was sitting with King and his group at the fraternity house or sneaking around to get a job done. There were the rare times throughout the last couple weeks before Thanksgiving where Alex felt the need to relax a little. On those days he'd take a nap or watch stupid Disney movies with Thomas. Or there was that drive that they took, but he really didn't even want to think about that. 

He didn't even want to acknowledge the invitation that Jefferson offered. Going home with him for the holidays. . . You know who does that? Couples. Gross, obnoxiously lovey-dovey couples. Something that he and Jefferson definitely were not. Thomas really knew how to make it hard to eliminate romantic feelings though. They'd been spending more time together than what they were before, and, almost surprisingly, Hamilton didn't feel like slamming Jefferson's face in a car door. There were still times where he'd say something that would make Alex want to throw a book at him, but hey. Progress is progress.   
  
  
  


Alex walked next to Thomas as they left Alexander's final class of the day. Thomas still had another one, but they were walking together until Hamilton saw whoever was waiting to take him back to the house this time. 

"Maybe Lee really had something to do with Samuel. . . He always seemed shifty, if you ask me." 

"Oh, and you know him so well?" Hamilton scoffed. 

"I do, actually! I knew him in high school, which is longer than you've known him, so boom."

"Alright, fine, you win. Please tell me all about today's conspiracy theory on where our classmates are disappearing to."

Thomas didn't hesitate to go into detail about what he thought happened. If Alexander didn't think about it too much, it actually sort of made sense, but that was a rule that could be applied to any conspiracy theory about anything. Suddenly, Thomas stopped his theory. 

"What if the underground job ring that you stupidly got into had something to do with it?" He gasped.

Before Hamilton could say anything, they were interrupted by John Adams throwing his arms around Alex's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey! Tommy, you don't mind if I borrow your little boyfriend here, do ya?"

"Oh, uhm, sure? He isn't my boyfriend, but yeah."

"Great!" Adams dragged Alex away. 

As soon as they were at the house, Adams went up the stairs without giving Alexander a second glance. Alex rolled his eyes and decided that he shouldn't waste any time that could be used to study for the upcoming exam season.   
  
  
  


He studied for a few hours before Adams came back.

"Hamilton! I need you to do a job for me. I have the money," he growled as soon as he was within earshot of Alex.

"Why would I do anything for you? I'm just an immigrant, remember? I can't do anything without sabotaging your poor 'white man's ego'."

"You'll do it because you don't have a choice. This is one of the jobs that King approved. You don't  _get_  to say no to that. You're the one that agreed to be here, have you forgotten that already, Hamilton?"

Alexander groaned dramatically and shut the notebook he was writing in. "What do you want and how much do you have?"

"Your boyfriend--"

"Not my boyfriend."

"Your  _future_  boyfriend is getting too close to figuring out what's going on here. You need to take care of that."

"What do you mean by 'take care of that'?"

"You know what I mean. He can't figure this shit out, Hamilton."

"Wait, are you-- oh my god, did you assholes actually kidnap people?!"

"No, they broke the rules. They knew the consequences of that, Samuel included, and if you know what's best for you, you'll keep that to yourself. He can't know. You know that as well as I do, now. I don't want to do it, so I'm willing to pay you to do it."

"I am not doing that! King promised that he'd be safe, I'm holding him to that. My answer is no."

"Then I'll do it and you can deal with King's consequences. Hm?"

Alexander stood up and shoved Adams back. "You so much as lay a finger on him--"

Before anything else happened, King came jogging down the stairs with Maria and James at his heels. "What is going on down here?!" He shouted.

"Hamilton here is breaking the rules," Adams said smugly.

"You  _specifically_  gave me your word that Thomas would be kept out of this, I am holding you to that, you arrogant British asshole!"

"Alex, dear, did John give you a job?"

"Yeah but--"

"And did he offer you money for said job?"

"Yes but if you would just--"

"And I gave him permission to come to you, so no. You don't have a choice. If I could take care of Samuel, you can take of Thomas. Get it done, or you  _will_ regret it." King turned to go back up the stairs.

"No."

He turned so fast that Maria and James had to move out of his way. He came down the stairs and stopped right in front of Alexander.

"Say that again," he threatened. For emphasis, Alex leaned closer and narrowed his eyes.

"No," he repeated. "I'm not going to hurt him to save your sorry ass. If he figures it out, you're going to have a great time in jail. Better yet, I could just fill him in on everything and you'll have a great time running from your very one consequences!"

James was silently laughing on the stairs while Maria was wildly gesturing for Alex to stop what he was doing.

"Oh, you'll regret saying that,  _darling_. Now get the hell out of this house and watch your back. I have a feeling you'll be visiting my Samuel soon."

Alex didn't waste any time gathering his things and leaving the house to talk to Thomas. The drive kept coming back to his mind. Specifically how Thomas assumed that Alex wanted the organization to be his 'new family'. Hamilton knew they were bad people, that much was obvious to anyone. He didn't need them to be his family. 

Which is exactly why Alex was going with the Jeffersons over Thanksgiving.


	26. Hamilton

Considering there were still a few days until Thanksgiving break, Alexander spent as much time as he possibly could near Thomas. That, of course, led to painful amounts of ironic flirting from Jefferson's side, but Hamilton was more worried about what King would do to either of them, given the chance. Especially after Alex's little outburst to the suspected ringleader of the kidnappings going around on campus.

He couldn't decide if he was doing it for his own protection or Thomas's but spending more time away from Jefferson than he needed to was the last thing that Alexander wanted to do. On the days where Thomas had a class that Alex didn't, he'd just wait somewhere around the building to make sure that Thomas actually left before catching up with him again.

That went on until finally, it was time to go south.

Hamilton threw some clothes in a bag, making sure to leave the gray iPhone in the dorm room instead of taking it with him. Since his outburst, it had been buzzing off the hook with texts from various numbers telling him how screwed he was and how much he'd screwed over Thomas.

Alex hoped that it was like having a bully in elementary school, they'd go away if he just ignored them. That was proving to be the exact opposite. Before he hid it, he got one last text.

_from: unknown_   
_leaving the phone will only make this worse for you_

Alex was used to getting passive aggressive things like that but this point. "Do this and you'll regret it". So far they were just bluffs, but he didn't really have any way to tell. He shoved the phone under his mattress and left the room with Jefferson.

"So, I take it you're excited to see a huge family?" Jefferson asked sarcastically as they left.

"Huh?"

"You've barely left my side since you agreed to go."

"Oh, right, that. Yeah, I guess I'm a little excited," Hamilton said half-heartedly.

"Something wrong?"

Alex scanned his brain to find some believable excuse. He didn't exactly know why he didn't just tell Thomas the truth about the situation, he would have been able to keep himself safe if he knew what was going on. Instead of explaining the truth, Alexander said, "I've never actually had a big family. I had one sibling for ten years and that's it."

"You'll be fine, they'll love you. They can be sort of overwhelming though. And you might have to answer to a few 'Mr. Easy Street' comments, but I might be able to handle those. Oh, and the twins are going through the playing pretend phase so--"

"Now you sound more nervous than I do," Hamilton smirked and playfully bumped Thomas, who tensely laughed.

"Yeah, this might be a disaster but it's too late to turn back now."  
  
  


The ride down wasn't so terrible. It was six hours of siblings arguing and bad sing-alongs to songs that Mary deemed fitting for a road trip. Every two hours, the car would get pulled over to stop somewhere for a leg stretch and driver switch. Jane said it kept things fair. The only one that didn't drive was Hamilton because the Jeffersons all agreed that him being a guest made him incapable of doing anything that required any work.

They arrived at the surprisingly large house right as it was getting dark out. Thomas and Mary carried in the bags while Jane walked Alex up to the door, explaining some of the rules that she expected him to follow while he was staying with them.

Once Thomas and Mary caught up and they were all at the door, Jane opened the door and held it open for her younger siblings. They set the bags down by the door and didn't have time to do anything else before a slightly chubby girl at the top of the stairs was yelling that they were home.

"That's Lucy," Thomas whispered as she ran down the stairs. She was followed by two other teenage girls and two small children.

They were all practically chanting that their siblings were home. Alex stood awkwardly at the side while the three older Jefferson passed out hugs. He was totally invisible before the little boy pointed at him and practically yelled, "Who's that!"

"I can wait in the car until we leave," Alex whispered in Thomas's ear.

"You'll be fine, just relax," he whispered back, standing up with the little girl on his hip. "Everyone, this is Alexander, he's my roommate and he wanted to come home with us for the holidays!"

"Why didn't he just go home with his own family?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy! Privacy, we've talked about that!" The oldest girl (other than Jane and Mary) flicked her on the back of the head. She looked Hamilton up and down like she was studying him. Then she looked at Thomas, who shrugged. Alexander couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

Lucy mumbled an apology and rubbed the back of her head.

"So we need to get introductions done!" Jane shouted, clapping her hands together. Thomas set the little girl down and Jane went down the line, saying everyone's name and age as she went.

Alex went over all of them in his head, trying to get them memorized. Nothing was more embarrassing to him than getting someone else's siblings confused.

"Tommy! Can you 'n Mr. Alex play Mario Kart with me?" Lucy asked, pulling on he brother's arm.

"Depends, is your homework done?"

". . . Mostly? But I have all break to finish it!"

"Your break is a total of two days, not counting the weekend. Finish your homework, let us get settled in, and we'll play. Sound good?" Lucy nodded eagerly. "Alex, sound good?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I don't see why not."

Lucy smiled brightly and ran down a hallway and into the kitchen.

"Well, lead the way," Hamilton said, dramatically gesturing in front of him for Thomas to show him where to go. Thomas rolled his eyes and walked up the stairs to his old room.   
  
  


Thomas took a deep breath and flopped down onto his bed when they were in the room. He didn't bother setting the suitcase anywhere specific, he just let it fall.

"Well someone's excited," Alex laughed. He was still standing near the door. "I'm assuming you missed your bed?"

"Hamilton there is nothing that I missed more than my bed. It's been six hours since I've gotten to lay in a bed and  _way_ longer since I've actually gotten to sleep for more than four hours at a time in one."

Alex suddenly felt self-conscious about the nightmares and he felt horrible about having Thomas stay awake with him after having a nightmare. It never crossed his mind that it was really affecting the other man at all. Thomas looked up and seemingly read Alexander's mind.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," he said as he sat up. "I don't have any problem sitting with you."

"Thomas it's fine if you don't like doing that. It's not your job. Just tell me, I'll be able to handle them on my own. That's what I did before you even took that upon yourself." Alexander nervously crossed his arms. "You're technically still supposed to hate me."

Thomas stood up and walked over to doorway next to Hamilton. "I'm not  _supposed_  to do anything. And you shouldn't have to sit alone in the middle of the night because of a nightmare, Alex."

Hamilton didn't say anything. He was mostly focused on how close Thomas was standing. On the other hand, Thomas apparently took the silence as stubbornness and grabbed Alexander's face lightly, not even enough to squish his cheeks.

"I have no problem staying up for you and I don't hate you, alright?"

Alex nodded dumbly. Despite the answer, Thomas still stood there just holding his roommate's face until their lips were connected. Hamilton wasn't sure when it started or who initiated it, but he didn't care. It was happening and it was happening better than he imagined it. He melted into the kiss, draping his arms over Jefferson's shoulders.

It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity before someone knocked on the door. Much to Alexander's disappointment.

"My homework's done, can ya play now?"

Thomas pulled away and Alex let his eyes open again, without remembering ever closing them.

"We did agree to play with her," Alex said.

Thomas straightened and Hamilton could see his face go red.

"Uh, right. Yeah, we should go down there and play the game," he muttered. "Fair warning, though, she's the best player in the house."

Alexander rolled his eyes.

"How good could she be, she's nine! I could totally beat her."

Hamilton was proven wrong in twelve consecutive races.


	27. Jefferson

On Thanksgiving day, most of the Jefferson siblings were helping cook. Martha had to keep an eye on the upstairs in case their legal guardian decided to wake up for once, while Thomas, Elizabeth, Jane, and Mary got the job of rushing around the kitchen to make enough food for an army. 

Alexander got the joys of babysitting the three youngest kids, keeping them occupied while everyone else got things done. Every now and then, Thomas would poke his head into the living room to make sure everything was running smoothly. And, for someone that wasn't around kids a lot growing up, Alex was doing a surprisingly good job. He handled the twins' arguments over who was playing with a toy first and he kept Lucy occupied with trying to beat her at Mario Kart. He was still losing terribly.

Thomas put his pan of baked macaroni and cheese in the oven and ducked under his sisters to make room for them and their projects. 

As he was waiting for Jane to give him another job, Thomas leaned on the kitchen island and watched Hamilton lose at another match of Mario Kart. Lucy laughed as he set up another game, insistent on trying to beat her. 

Alex tied his hair back in a loose bun somehow without any hair elastic and focused solely on the game, moving his entire body with every turn. 

"Boy, I wish I could get me a man to stare at me like that." Thomas jumped as Mary came up next to him. Alex obviously heard what she said because before he turned around, Thomas could see the man smirk despite losing to Lucy again. 

Mary dragged her brother out through the back door and into the cold weather. "So have you dealt with the romance issue yet? It's obviously still there, or you wouldn't be staring at him like Martha looks at a new book." 

"Did you have to drag me out here to ask that?!" Thomas wrapped his arms around himself. "If you must know. . . We may have had some contact last night."

Thomas realized that Mary probably had never looked more proud in her entire life.

"Wait, you only kissed right? Like that's as far as you went?" 

"God-- Mary, yes, we only kissed! Nothing else happened!" Thomas's entire face went red. "Technically that wasn't even supposed to happen."

"So then how did it?"

"He just, you know, he gets some pretty bad nightmares sometimes and they've been pretty common lately so I usually stay up with him for a while afterward and I said something about missing the full nights of sleep and he took it the wrong way and it just happened, alright?"

Mary tapped her chin with false thought. "So you have some things to work out, huh."

She grabbed her brother's wrist and pulled him back into the house. Then she went to Jane and whispered something in her ear. Jane looked confused but shrugged and set down her oven mitts. 

"Hey, Thomas, why don't you and Alexander take Lucy and the twins to pick out a tree?" Jane said in a slightly raised voice, probably to make sure the younger kids heard it to get them excited. It worked. They were immediately running up the stairs, shouting about picking out a tree. 

"But it's not even December yet," Thomas pointed out in an annoyed tone. 

"Thomas you have been gone for a total of three months. You did not forget the tradition of decorating the tree after the Thanksgiving dinner did you?" 

"That's not even a--"

"I think it sounds fun," Hamilton said as he walked into the kitchen. "I need to talk to you anyway, Thomas." 

 

 

An hour later, Thomas and Alexander were walking slowly next to each other while the three younger kids were running ahead at the outdoor shop to find the perfect tree. For once, Alex had his hands shoved in his own jacket to keep them warm. 

"So, you needed to talk to me?" Thomas said, hoping that it wasn't about the kiss. 

"Uh, yeah, about last night. . ."

"Oh, that, right. Sorry about that, I have no idea where it came from."

"Mm, yes you do. Don't try to pull the clueless thing, Jefferson, we both know that no matter how much I want you to be, you aren't stupid."

Thomas looked down at Alex, who looked like he just solved the biggest mystery in the world and now had a big head about it. Thomas just rolled his eyes and went back to watching his siblings hover around a tall tree. 

"Well, fine then. You don't want to admit your love for me, I get that. You'll never know whether or not I enjoyed it, so I mean if you're willing to risk that. . ."

Hamilton shrugged and slowly walked off, obviously trying to make it more dramatic than it needed to be. Thomas was going to walk after him, but his phone started ringing in his pocket. 

"Hey, what's up?"

" _Hey, yeah we sort of need you home,_ " Martha said.

"Why? Did something happen?"

" _Sort of? Mom woke up and she's trying to help make some cake, right now. Janey and Mary are kinda panicking 'cause, well I mean, it's Mom. Anyway, they told me that you need to get the kids home. Tell them you'll come back to get a good one or something. Just, you know, get home before the house burns down or something._ "

Thomas groaned and pinched his nose as he hung up to go and herd his siblings into the car.


	28. Hamilton

The entire way back to the house, Thomas was grumbling about his mom choosing the most inconvenient times to try to be a parent. The kids in the back were still complaining about having to leave without a tree, but their fits died down once they realized that screaming wasn't going to work. 

Every minute up to the dinner seemed to fly by, but as soon as it was time to sit down with the Jeffersons, Alex felt like time was slowed down just to torture him.  
  


Alexander sat awkwardly at the table as Thomas argued with his mother. Everyone else was dead quiet, even Anna and Randolph. Alex wished Thomas would stop talking and just eat the food on his plate so it could be done and over with.

"You never talk to me anymore, Tommy. You didn't even say goodbye before you left," his mother hummed.

"I wonder why." Thomas kept his eyes down. 

"Well, I'd say it's time for dessert, right. . . Wha's yer name, cutie? Xavier? Yeah, c'mon, help cut the cake." the woman poked Hamilton's cheek. He shifted away from her uncomfortably, which left him closer to Thomas.

"He's staying right here, thank you very much," Thomas spat. He grabbed Alex's hand under the table and Alex just decided to let it happen.

Jane Sr. shrugged and went into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Thomas dove for her glass of water, letting go of Hamilton's hand in the process, the lack of body heat making him hate the cold of the house.

"Thomas, she's been doing fine all day," Mary whispered, glancing into the kitchen. "Maybe we can just leave it." 

"No, since when has she not had some sort of alcohol around her?" Thomas looked at Mary with a challenging look and she backed off. "You remember growing up! Stepping over her after she passed out in the middle of the living room."

"She said she stopped," Elizabeth muttered. 

"Liz, you saw how she was acting. You really want to say that's sober?"

Jane Sr. came back into the room with a lopsided looking cake barely staying in one hand and a knife in the other. She looked overly happy until she noticed her son holding the glass. Thomas kept direct eye contact with her as he took a small sip. Everyone jumped when he slammed the cup onto the table, sending the liquid sloshing and landing on the table.

"Vodka. Really? Are kidding me right now?!" He shouted.

Anna and Randolph scooted closer to Elizabeth. Mary rubbed a hand over her face for some sort of stress relief and Jane put an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Tommy, I can explain, it's just been really hard since the Peters--"

"I was five when that happened! You are not about to tell me that you are still lying to your children because of that! I get it! It's traumatizing! But that's no fucking excuse!"

"Thomas, you need to calm down," Mary whispered as she stood up. She put a supportive hand on her brother's shoulder but he ignored it.

"No! She's got two kids that are still young enough to forget about this shit and she isn't even trying to fix anything!"

Speaking of the twins, they were in tears and huddling against each other. Elizabeth pulled them away from the shouting, trying to play the good big sister role, but she looked like she was going to cry too.

"You will not talk to your mom that way," Jane Sr. said. She tried to sound as stable and intimidating as she could, which was proving ineffective.

"What mom!? All I see is a pathetic alcoholic that can't stop drinking long enough to notice any of her goddamn kids!" Thomas screamed as he motioned to everyone around the room. "How old are the twins, huh? You tell me right now how old they are and I'll sit down and apologize."

Jane hesitated and Thomas took that as a sign of him winning.

"You don't know your own kids' age? Wow. You've hit a new low," Thomas growled. "They're six now, not that you care."

The youngest kids, Anna, Randolph, Lucy, were all huddling together next to Elizabeth. They weren't trying to hide the tears that were making steady streams down their cheeks.

"Could you both just shut up, look what you're doing to them!" Martha joined in the screaming. Hamilton stared at her in shock, she'd barely said a word the entire time he'd been there yet there she was, yelling right along with her brother.

"You siddown, girl, you don't know what you're talkin' about," the mother pointed at her fifteen-year-old daughter with the knife.

And that's when all hell broke loose. Everyone was yelling, the youngest three children were gross sobbing, Jane and Mary were trying to diffuse the situation. . .

"Hamilton, go help Elizabeth get the kids in the car, we're leaving." Thomas didn't look away from his mother.

"You aren't takin' my kids anywhere!"

"They aren't your kids! You don't do shit for them!" Thomas glared back at Alex. "Now, Alexander."

Alex didn't have to be told again. He knew that Jefferson could be a dick, but he'd never seen him this absolutely pissed before. Martha and Lucy let Alexander guide them out into the night while Elizabeth focused on getting the twins into their booster seats.

"You," Elizabeth whispered looking at the stranger that was watching nervously into the house. "stay out here with them, I'll go get Thomas and the others."

Before he could say anything, the girl ran back inside the house and he was left with the quiet crying of all the kids sitting behind him.

"Mama had her grown-up juice again, didn't she, Mr. Alex?" Lucy asked. Martha hit her sister's arm and quietly told her not to talk to strangers. 

"Tommy brought him, though, so he can't be dangerous," Lucy reasoned. "Plus a stranger wouldn't play Mario Kart with me."

'Mr. Alex' turned around to face them.

"Yes, she did. Tommy and your sisters are taking care of it. But that's a good rule to live by, not talking to strangers," he smiled at Martha, hoping to get her to warm up to him. She crossed her arms and looked out the window. 

"Is Mama gonna hurt 'im?" Randy asked from the back.

Alex wished that he could say no, but he couldn't deny the fear that they didn't get the knife away from her in time and she actually did hurt Thomas.

"I don't know," Alex whispered. A new set of tears washed over everyone's face, even his own, and they stared at the house in fear. The yelling was muffled, but still there.

Suddenly, the front door opened and slammed shut as the older four siblings came out of the house. Thomas got into the driver's seat of the car that Alex was in, while the two girls got into the car next to them. Before she got in, Mary leaned in the window of the fully occupied car and told Martha that she needed to ride with them. Martha quickly switched cars and they all drove off.

"Tommy?"

"What, sweetheart?" Despite the murderous look on his face, Thomas kept his voice soft when he was talking to Anna.

"Does Mama hate me?"

"It doesn't matter if she does or not because me and Jane and Mary and Lizzy love you, right?" He looked into the rearview mirror at his younger siblings "That goes for all of you."

"Dolly at school says that her Mama is better than our mama," Randy muttered.

"Yeah, well, Dolly at school is a big stupid head so her opinion doesn't matter."

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked.

"Motel. We're going to stay gone for the night and we'll go back in the morning, probably."

Lucy leaned closer to the driver's seat and tried to whisper in Thomas's ear. "Is that Mr. Easy Street?" She said in a barely quieted regular volume voice.

Alex inhaled so quickly that he ended up inhaling his own saliva and coughing like he was dying. Through the coughing tears, Alex could see Thomas's face go red in the light from passing street lamps.

"Why do you ask?" Thomas almost laughed. 

"Martha says that he isn't because of probability or so'm." Lucy shrugged and sat back, completely giving up on whispering. "But she doesn't know everything and I gotta prove her wrong."

Thomas was quiet for a second before saying, "Why don't you guys try to get some sleep before we get there."

Lucy sighed and sat sideways in her seat, still muttering about how Alex should be Mr. Easy Street.

It was quiet for maybe ten minutes before Thomas spoke up again. He glanced into the back seats to make sure that his siblings were asleep. They were.

"We never finished that conversation earlier," Thomas whispered. He was probably keeping his voice low so his siblings would stay asleep.

"Really? You want to finish that now?"

Jefferson shrugged. "Better now than never." 

". . . Right. So what are we doing then? I mean, you sort of kissed me--"

"Or maybe you kissed me."

"Like I said, you kissed me, and then you just sort of held my hand at dinner. If I didn't know any better I'd say someone has a little crush on me?" Alex wiggled his eyebrows, which got Thomas to roll his eyes and smile. 

"You kissed back and you didn't exactly move your hand, so really, who's crushing on who here?"

"You invited me to meet your family over a holiday." 

"You always steal my jacket."

"You. . ." Hamilton thought for a second to find another thing to use against Thomas. "Need to shut up."

Thomas just laughed. "So, I say we come to an agreement now. We try it out, see how it goes, and just sort of go with it." 

"Wow, that's your romantic question? Sounds more like a business deal, if you ask me." 

"You wanna try to be romantic, because I would love to hear your version."

"Business deal it is." 

Once they were at a red light, Thomas turned to dramatically shake Alexander's hand. Might as well make it seem more like a business deal. Neither of them let go until they had to load kids out of the car and into the motel. Alexander figured they looked crazy, with Thomas, Alex, and Mary all holding a kid while Jane got them set up. 

Everyone got settled into their rooms, Jane being with the three younger kids while Elizabeth, Mary, and Martha shared a room. Thomas and Alexander got their own room. 

They both laid down on their separate beds and stayed in the dark for a few minutes before they were talking again. 

"So does this mean that we're officially dating now?" Alex asked, turning to face Thomas's bed, despite barely being able to see. 

"Uness you don't want to, that's exactly what it means. Great Sherlock, you cracked the case."

"Oh shut up." Alex laughed. He thought for a second then nodded to himself and sighed. "I don't think I want the jobs anymore."

He heard Thomas sit up on the squeaky bed. "Wait, you're serious!?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're master plan worked. I don't need them for validation or whatever it was I was looking for." 

"As much as I want to say I told you so, which I totally did, I'm not going to--"

"You just did!"

"I'm just glad that you finally came to your senses about that!" Thomas went over and sat on the end of Alex's bed so they could continue the conversation and actually see each other. "But I have to ask. . . What's this whole gossip thing going around that you killed someone? I think I heard that you set a fire and burned someone to death." 

"That's what people are saying? Seriously?" Hamilton groaned. "No, I didn't kill anyone. There was this situation that did involve fire and a lot of betrayals but I didn't kill anyone."

"What was it? The situation I mean."

". . . I was dating this girl in high school, Eliza Schuyler, and she's the sweetest girl I'd ever met. She definitely loved me, despite all that impulsive crap that I had going on."

"Had?"

"Oh shut up. Anyway, I got this job. . . Another girl came in and she wanted me to help her out because she was with an abusive asshole. I didn't have much problem walking her home a few times, maybe giving her some money if I had any to spare, but the job was a little more intimate than that. . ."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, not the worst part yet. Being the impulsive idiot that I was, I used some of the money I was getting from my jobs to pay her boyfriend to keep his mouth shut. I didn't want Eliza to find out and every time I told myself 'this is the last time', but for some reason it never was. . ."

Hamilton sighed. 

"She just forgave me when we got back from my family visit. I didn't kill her physically, but she burned everything that I gave her and she didn't trust the same after that. So in a way, yeah. I killed someone, and I regret every goddamn second of that."

"Wow, so we're both assholes."

"I think I win in that department, Jefferson."

"Oh yeah? Why don't we ask John."

"Thomas I literally paid to cheat on Eliza."

"Yeah, but do you know who I cheated on John with. I think that's game-changing information."

"Doubt it, but shoot."

Thomas hesitated for a second but he groaned in the most disgusted way, "Charles Lee."

Hamilton laughed. "Oh, wow you have no standards."

"Obviously, just look at who I'm dating now." Alex playfully hit the other, causing both of them to snicker for a second. "Anyway I think we can agree I--"

Alex yawned dramatically. "Oh, man look at the time! We'll have to decide who's the bigger asshat another time!" He flopped down and started fake snoring. 

"Fine," Thomas said, weirdly happy.

He didn't bother moving, he just got comfortable next to his new boyfriend and fell asleep there.


	29. Laurens

As horrible as it sounds, John could not care less about kidnappings. Don't get him wrong, they were horrible and the victims were probably scared out of their minds, but he couldn't bring himself to care too much. Maybe a thirty second "oh no, how terrible!" while he was folding laundry or something, but he didn't want to go out and go on a search and rescue mission, especially not with winter closing in. 

Again, it sounded horrible, and John hated that he didn't want to go out and look, but he tried to care more than he did. It never worked. 

While everyone was traveling in packs, keeping multiple people by their side at a time, John was walking down streets and sidewalks with absolutely no one. There were times where his destination wasn't too out of the way of his friends' so Herc and Laf would insist on the power in numbers and walk with him.

John appreciated them looking out for him, but most of the time he wanted them to take their cute relationship somewhere else. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was definitely jealous of what they had. They were best friends before anything and they still got to be together in the end. Even if it didn't work out between them, Laurens had no doubt that they'd go back to being best friends like nothing ever even happened. 

That's exactly what he couldn't have. 

Yes, he wanted Hamilton. 

Yes, he was sad that Hamilton didn't want him.

No, that didn't mean he was going to sabotage the relationship that Hamilton wanted. 

No, he wasn't going to completely cut his friend out of his life to avoid Jefferson.

It would take some getting used to, obviously, but Laurens was more than willing to forgive Thomas to make Alexander happy. He wouldn't do anything to hurt Alex unless he found out something that would change his entire opinion of him. He doubted that would happen though. 

Laurens sighed and leaned on the counter at the cafe. It was unsurprisingly empty, considering the new curfew and the campus-wide fear of being kidnapped. He didn't get many sit-in customers since the kidnappings were made public and warnings were put up. That didn't matter, though. Alexander and Thomas would come to keep him company most of the time. Over break, he had to deal with having almost no one to talk to. The only person that didn't go home for the holidays was Lafayette, and that's only because he didn't celebrate, to begin with.

Now, though, he was sitting and waiting for yet another closing shift to end. At seven forty-five, he decided that no one else was coming so he started to clean up. As soon as he started wiping things down, the door opened and he saw a woman walk up to him. 

"Sorry, ma'am, we're actually closing up," he muttered without looking up, spraying down another table. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were still open. . ." John looked up when he heard a sniffle. He set his cleaning products down and went over to the crying woman. He pulled out a chair and sat her down. He recognized her voice as the girl that helped him get the job, so naturally, he felt the need to help her in return.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he went to flip the sign before sitting in front of her. 

"I just needed to go somewhere. My boyfriend, he just-- he just left and I don't know what to do. I mean he wasn't that great a person and I should be happy that he's gone but I just. . . I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about all my problems, I'll just go before I drag into a pit of depression," she sighed. She wiped her tears and stood up from her chair so suddenly it almost knocked John off his chair. She started walking toward the door. 

"Wait!" John yelled, getting up after her. "You just seem really upset. . . Maybe I could walk you home? 

"I would appreciate that." The woman smiled. She held out her hand for a handshake. "Maria Lewis."

"John Laurens," John said, shaking her hand happily.

* * *

 

The two walked down the street with their arms linked talking about Maria's jerk of an ex. Neither of them seemed to be really worried about getting caught since they were technically going home. At least one of them was. The officers wouldn't really know if they lived together or not.

"Why don't you just stay the night," Maria said once they got to her apartment building. "With all the kidnappings going on. . . You just never know. And you've been such a help tonight, I'd feel bad sending you out at night by yourself." 

John considered it for a second. Go home with an attractive woman or go back to his apartment where Hercules and Lafayette would be insufferably cute. It didn't seem like much of a competition, so he let Maria lead him up to her apartment.

"So what about you John? You've been seriously quiet this whole time, is something eating at you?"

"No, just listening to what you have to say," John sighed. 

"Mhm, and I don't believe in aliens. What's really going on?" 

John didn't feel like bottling anything up so he decided to tell Maria everything about Alex and Thomas, telling her how he felt about it and making it clear that he wouldn't want them to break up. He even explained why he didn't like Thomas to begin with so it would make sense why he said 'forgive' when talking about him.

"Wait, you know Hamilton? And you don't want to completely demolish him for what he did?" Maria asked when John was done. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, Thomas cheated on you right? And I think you said something about you hating people that did that. . ." 

"Yeah?"

"Honey, Alex  _paid_ to keep a girl on the side while he was dating Elizabeth Schuyler. Good money, too, not just a few dollars." Maria made a "tsk" noise with her tongue as she threw a blanket on the couch. "You know, I wouldn't judge you for hating him. Hell, I hate him, but I was the girl that he was using so I'm just a little biased." 

"Wait he was paying  _you_?"

"Not me directly, no, but he was using me. . . It seems like he's using you too, don't you think? He knows how you feel about him, right?"

"Well, no. Not exactly, I never told him." 

"But you make absolutely no effort to hide it?"

"Not really."

"John, he's using you for the attention. It's what he does! Fun little fact, when he got back on campus from visiting with Thomas's family, he dropped out of the job ring we have. Not politely, either, no he came yelling about how we're all going to jail. . . He called me a whore a few times. All he needed to do was let us know what was happening and he came in and did all that. . . He lives for any attention he can get."

John didn't know what to say for a second. He didn't really want to believe that his best friend was someone that he didn't even know. He didn't know the real Alexander Hamilton, but he really didn't know this girl either. 

"Why should I believe you?"

"Well, I just told you practically my entire life story, why would I lie about him paying to keep me on the side, and didn't one of the Schuylers tell you about that? You just didn't know who it was, right?"

"How did you know that?"

"I talk to them too." Maria turned to face John with an almost evil smile on her face. "We should do something about him."

"What does that mean?"

"We can teach him a lesson! Give him a little scare into being a better person!" 

He didn't like the way she said that, but he listened as she explained her plan anyway. It seemed pretty harmless, but John was still apprehensive about hurting Alex. They were still friends. . . right?

"Come on, Johnny! It's just a little scare! You can't be seriously trying to protect him from a little scare after what he did to you. After what he did to  _us_ , and to Eliza, and what he could do to anyone else that comes into contact with him!" 

John didn't say anything.

"He hurt us, John. You're hurt and only I know how that feels right now! Only I know exactly how you feel right now because Eliza isn't here and he hurt me too."

John thought about it for a second. Part of him wanted to teach him the lesson for his own good and the other part didn't want to do anything to even remotely hurt him. Maria did have a point though. He shouldn't get the chance to hurt someone like that again, even if it was Thomas. Suddenly, before he had time to process it, his mind locked in a definite decision.

"Fine. I'll do it."


	30. Hamilton

Alexander liked the feeling of having no jobs to do. 

He'd obviously have to find a new one soon, just to keep him alive and all that, but he was enjoying not having other people hire him to do their dirty work. For the first time since before his mother got sick, Alex could say that he was really happy and not stressed. He was on top of his classes, he had a kickass boyfriend, he had great friends, and no illegal job ring to worry about.

As soon as he was back on the campus, he dropped the phone in the mail slot of King's house and walked away without another thought. He didn't even knock or go inside, he just dropped it and went to avoid any conflict that he could, for once. Thomas insisted that they celebrate with something because apparently he really didn't expect his siblings to be a turning point for Alex's moral compass. 

Whatever worked, though. 

Thomas's idea of a celebration, Alex figured out, was actually a first date, which he wanted to spend ice skating. Hamilton didn't see what was so great about sliding with blades strapped to your feet on solid water, but Jefferson seemed excited about it. 

"We used to go all the time when I was a kid! Well, whenever they were doing the dollar-skate days at the closest rink," Thomas explained as the walked up to the rink. "Trust me, you'll love it."

"Yeah, no offense but I trust you about as much as I trust a rabid squirrel. It's just a disaster waiting to happen!"

"You'll be fine," Thomas assured one last time before opening the door to the building. 

They strapped their skates on and made their way to the actual rink. As soon as Alex saw the sheet of ice, he wanted to sit out. Thomas insisted that it was easier than it looked and helped him onto the ice. Alex gripped Thomas's arms for balance when he almost fell as soon as both feet were on the ice.

"Okay, now you have to relax. You can't skate if you can't move your legs."

"'You can't skate if you can't move your legs'," Hamilton mocked. "Yeah, well, I can't skate if I'm dead either but here you are forcing me to do this!"

"How could you possibly die from this? Worst case scenario, you get a cut on your fingers."

"Can't they get cut off if I fall?!"

"Not if you bring 'em in quick enough!" Thomas laughed as Alex nervously tightened his grip. "I'm just kiddin', that finger thing is just a myth, the blades aren't sharp enough to cut a finger off."

"Are you sure about that?"

Thomas pulled slightly on Alexander's arms and started slowly skating backward, steering and letting Alex gain some balance as they went. 

"Positive," he said. 

 

Eventually, Hamilton got himself balanced enough to skate mostly on his own. He still had a tight hold on one of Thomas's hands, partially to keep himself balanced and partially because he wanted to. 

They skated together for around an hour, lightly bickering about whether or not the blades were sharp enough to cut off a finger. Alex still insisted that it was possible and a rational fear, even though by that point he was having more fun than he expected. 

"You think you can skate on your own now?" Thomas laughed after a while of skating hand-in-hand.

"I probably could. Doesn't mean I want to, though," Alex smiled and shrugged like it was nothing, but a man skating past them thought that his opinion was the most important thing that he could have possibly contributed to the conversation. Of course, it wasn't the most polite comment in the world. 

The first time around, the couple just ignored the comment, but after he came around a second and third time, each with a new comment, Hamilton was getting fed up. It was after the fourth comment that Thomas pulled his hand away. 

He skated ahead and left the rink, leaving Alex on his own. Alexander scanned the rink for the man with the obnoxious opinion and noticed him heading for the exit as well. 

"Oh hell no," Alex muttered. 

He turned and skated the opposite way since it was closer to the exit, dodging other skaters as he approached the cut-off. He caught up to the man and, since it was easier to do on the hard floor, picked up his feet to jog next to him. 

"So, you wanna tell me why you chased off my boyfriend with your unnecessary opinion?" Hamilton said as soon as he was next to the guy. 

"Because unless you're a really ugly lady, it's wrong." 

"Oh, I've never heard this before! How's it wrong?"

"I don't owe creatures like you an explanation," the man growled. "Now leave before I catch whatever it is you have."

Alexander clicked his tongue in a disapproving way. "See, you actually do owe me an explanation. . . What's your name? Harold? You look like a Harold. Anyway, Harold, it's only 'wrong' because you read a book that's probably been processed by the government that said an almighty god said so. Really, there isn't any real law that says it's wrong, in fact, I could go and propose to my super hot boyfriend right now!"

"The law of God is real, and that's what it goes against. Country laws are below the Bible, always." 

"They aren't, though. You have a choice to follow God's laws. Country laws aren't exactly optional. And anyway, doesn't it say in the Bible that women should obey their husbands when it comes to sex? You know, like a man can take what he wants when he wants it. So, by the law of God, rape is okay. By country laws, it isn't. Which one will you listen to Harold? And before you decide, there is a right answer to that." 

The man looked ready to argue but he closed his mouth and stormed away. Or at least he tried to, he looked more like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum in his skates. Hamilton had to stop himself from laughing as he looked for Thomas, who he found sitting at one of the benches taking his skates off. 

"You forgot something, you know," Alexander said, joining Jefferson in taking his skates off and trading them for actual shoes. 

"Sorry, that guy was just getting on my nerves," Thomas muttered. 

"I can tell, but he's just one of those people blindly following the Bible without giving it any real thought." 

"Please tell me you didn't go talk to him."

"I would never!" Hamilton threw a hand over his heart and faked a gasp. "Why would you think I would do that!"

Thomas didn't even have to say anything because the look on his face was enough to say "really?" in the most sarcastic way possible. 

"So maybe I talked to him a little, no harm in that. His name's probably Harold." 

"I swear you're going to get us kicked out of every place we go," Thomas laughed as he got up. 

Alex followed him out the door, checking his phone as they walked. It was still somewhat new to him to not have to worry about how illegal the next job was going to be, so getting a text from John was a wonderful relief. He told Thomas that he was going to spend the night there and after five reminders to call, the couple went their separate ways. 

* * *

 

Alex was almost to the apartment building when two people came up next to him. John Adams and James Reynolds.

"Hey! Look what we have here James!" Adams said, throwing his arm aggressively around Hamilton's shoulders. "Haven't seen you in a minute, where you been, Al?"

"Don't call me that." Alex tried shrugging his arm off but his grip was too tight. Adams redirected the group away from the original destination.

"Adams! You know he's still sensitive about his cousin!" James gasped. "The poor guy just found him dead on the couch, show some respect."

Alexander froze. "There's no way you could know about that." 

"Right, and there's no way we could know that you found him the day after your mom died. Honestly, Ham, you should know by now that King has his ways of getting his hands on important information."

Once he realized where they were, Alex tried to duck back and run away, but someone else was behind him, already pushing him up the stairs and into the house. The same house that he'd been avoiding. 

"Welcome back, Alexander!" King shouted in the same obnoxiously happy voice as always. Alex noticed a couple new faces sitting with the rest of the group, one of which stood out like a sore thumb. 

"John. . ." he breathed. 

Laurens shrunk back into the couch, a guilty look glued to his face. Alex scowled at him as he felt a new kind of betrayal.

"Oh, yes, he's been such a help here." Hamilton's attention was turned back to King. "Now, I'm a man of my word, and if I remember correctly, I told you to watch your back."

He took a few steps forward and roughly grabbed Alexander's face between his thumb and index finger. 

"You should have listened." 


	31. Jefferson

Thomas woke up the next morning to complete silence. With the weather closing in on winter, there weren't any birds to be screeching their morning song of despair at the ass crack of dawn. With the end of the football season coming up, hangovers were becoming more common which meant alarm clocks were typically off. And with no Hamilton came the lack of aggressive typing--

No Hamilton. 

Thomas shot up in the bed to make sure that his roommate wasn't just sleeping in for once and not trapped in wherever the kidnapping victims were being held. He threw a pillow at the wad of blankets before allowing himself to panic slightly. 

He pulled on a hoodie and shoes before rushing out of the dorm. He ran back into the room to grab his phone, then he was off down the hallway. He pulled out the phone and started texting Laurens to see if Alex just decided to spend the night there and just forgot to call or something.

_from: Jlau_   
_i thought he was with you.? he didn't show up last night._

Thomas groaned and opened Hamilton's chat head. 

_to: Significant Annoyance_   
_hey whered you go.? you didnt call, you didnt come back ... i need to know that you arent kidnapped or sometihng_

_im the last person to see you as far as i know so if you could not get me arrested thatd be great_   
_youre always on your phone you could at least let me know you arent dead_

He quickly walked by the cafe and looked around inside to make sure his apparently lost boyfriend wasn't there, which he surprisingly wasn't. He was definitely starting to panic as he left the building. So much so that he was too busy texting a non-responsive Hamilton to notice anyone walking in front of him and he bumped right into his old family friend. 

"Tommy! Hey, how you been?" Adams cheered. "Haven't seen you since before Thanksgiving, when you were with that obnoxious gremlin. Speaking of, where is that thing anyway?"

"You haven't seen me since Thanksgiving because of what you pulled when you sat with me and my sisters at the cafe, and I don't know where he is. I was just looking for him so if you could just--"

"Oh, so it's missing? As in like kidnapped missing?" 

"I don't know, that's why I'm trying to find him."

Adams shrugged and kept walking alongside Thomas, despite obviously not being wanted. "I dunno, man," he said. "if I were you, I'd just let it go."

"I'm sorry,  _what_?"

"You know, let it go. If they don't want it and all the loudmouthed tendencies, they'll throw it out." 

"Or they'll kill him?"

"Either way it seems like a win to me." 

Thomas turned toward John Adams and didn't even bother glaring. He was mostly shocked that a human being could say that about another human being. Especially one that's close to a family friend. It was impressive in a sick and twisted way. 

"What makes you say that?" 

"I mean there was no filter. Anything that came to that self-righteous mind had to be shared with everyone. I get that that's your boy toy and all, but seriously, Thomas? There was a whole situation where someone was being paid for that asshole's side-chick. Maybe you should just keep all of that mentally fucked up glory until you find something that's actually worth your time. Long story short, be glad that the creole bastard is gone. Could be a new beginning for you." 

Thomas stopped walking but Adams kept going like he didn't say what he just said. Everything about it suggested that Jefferson was going to punch him in the face, and he walked like he didn't even care. 

Jefferson stormed up to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and turned him around so quick that it took his head a second to catch up. Thomas didn't feel like getting in trouble before he could find his idiot, so he didn't punch Adams.

"Unless you know exactly what you're talking about, it would do you well to now say anything at all." 

Thoams let go of the shoulder that he was still holding and started toward the makeshift station that some police officers had set up to tell them about a new person to add to the wall of faces.

Before he stepped in, he got a new message. 

_from: Significant Annoyance_   
_not dead, i just passed out in the library .. gotta study up yknow_

Thomas thought that something seemed off about the text. It didn't sound like anything Hamilton would say. Something he would do, sure, but he would have worded it differently.

_to: Significant Annoyance_   
_ok thats fine. go back to the dorm and get some sleep tho_   
_before you do, we havent gone out for dinner in a while. we still on for that dinner date tonight.?_

_from: Significant Annoyance_   
_totally._   
  


And that was all Thomas needed to know for sure that something was going on and he didn't like it. They never made plans for a date and they've never actually been out to dinner. Unless ordering pizza and not leaving their room counted, but neither of them had the money to go out at this point so they never bothered. 

He went into the office and told the woman behind the desk what was happening. She didn't seem too thrilled to have another missing person to account for and Thomas could tell, just by the way she was talking.

"Are you sure he's missing?" She asked in a snarky voice.

"What? No, that's why I'm here, to stop him from being  _officially_  missing!" 

"Well, then why don't you just wait until you know for sure that something isn't right?" She glanced at the phone. "Besides, isn't that him that you're talking to there?"

"Listen, I know my boyfriend, alright! And I know that this isn't him!" He waved the phone for emphasis. "He wouldn't just leave without saying something and I know that it's not him texting me!"

"How do you know sir?" The lady was definitely losing her patience with him if she had any, to begin with, but he couldn't care less. 

"Because we never made those plans!"

"He could think that he forgot about them and didn't want to make you upset. Go and wait, I'll send out something. Have a nice day." she put on a fake smile and waved him away. 

He left the station with a huff and ran into Charles Lee, not literally like he did with Adams. 

"Where's Hamilton?" 

"I don't know." Thomas ran a hand through his hair and looked around like he would find Alex like that. "I can almost guarantee the clowns in there aren't going to be much help, though."

"I can help you," Lee offered. He looked dead serious. 

"No offense, but last time we helped each other, things went south pretty quick." 

"Wow, such a great pun," Lee groaned sarcastically. He sighed and pinched his nose. "Look, I don't like to think about that any more than you do, alright? But we're both missing something here. I need to find Sam, you need to find Alex,  _they_ aren't moving quickly enough in there because the longer this takes, the more publicity it gets. Especially if they find a body and we can't have that. Right?" 

Thomas looked at him for a second, shocked. "Right."

"So the logical thing would be to get our group of people. People that we can count on to actually look because those cheap assclowns aren't doing shit for the actual victims here." 

"You do have a point. . ." 

"I know I have a point. So what do you say, do you know anyone?" 

Confidence and determination found their way into Thomas's mind and he stood up a little straighter. 

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do."


	32. Hamilton

Alexander woke up with a pounding headache lying on the floor in a concrete room that he didn't recognize. 

His first thought was that he finally got arrested for something, then he remembered that he paid an unexpected visit to the King of Narcissism. He realized that he was officially a kidnap victim. 

"Fun," he muttered to himself as he sat up. The room spinning so he used the wall for balance when he stood. "Hey! Can anyone hear me?!"

"Keep your voice down! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" someone hissed from the other side of the wall. It took him a second, but Alex recognized the voice. 

"Samuel?" 

"Yeah, now shut up before they come back. If they see you awake, you might as well sign your death warrant, Alexander." 

Sam sounded way colder than when they last talked, but that just made whatever happened there even scarier than it already was. He decided not to say anything about it. 

"How long have I been here?" Alex asked quietly. 

"I don't know, I don't have any windows other than those bars right there." Alexander noticed a square cut from the wall connecting the two cells. "I think that's part of their torture thing. . ." 

"Torture?!"

"Not real torture, like mental torture. They're just insane. Except for Maria and John, we can trust them."

"John. John who." Hamilton remembered seeing his friend shrinking into the same couch that he'd sat on when he got too far into this. The feelings of anger and betrayal were beyond undeniable.   

"Andre, I think? I-I don't actually remember too well."

Alex sighed. So Laurens wasn't a part of the group that he could trust. He wished he would have known that before he got trapped down here. Without thinking, he got up and started yelling. 

"LAURENS!" he screamed. "If you can hear me I need you to come to wherever-here-is! Now!" 

" _Shut up_! What the hell are you doing?!" 

"Getting John's attention. He wouldn't do this without being blackmailed somehow, I'm going to help him out."

"We can't trust him!" 

"And we trust Maria Lewis? How do you figure that, Samuel?"

Sam sighed. "Before you got down here they would bring me and the girl that was in your cell food and they'd talk to us--"

"Wait, someone else was in here?" Alex looked around the room and felt uneasiness rise in his chest. Someone else was staying in the same cell before he got taken and now she was gone. "What happened to her?" 

Sam stayed quiet.

Hamilton's blood ran cold and the panic finally started setting in. Before he had a chance to start screaming again, he heard a metallic creaking and saw his door opening. He darted toward it, only to be tripped by the chain that was attaching him to the farthest wall. He fell flat on his face. The visitor helped him up. 

In one last burst of panic, Hamilton ditched the game plan.

"What the hell!" 

"Okay, Alex, I know you're mad--"

"I am chained.  _To a wall_!" Hamilton motioned to the chain for emphasis. "And you want to say that I'm  _mad_? Where even am I?" 

"I can't tell you that, Ham."

"Oh no, you don't get to use that. You had something to do with the kidna-- you had something to do with the kidnappings. . ." Realization slowly fell onto him like someone cutting a rope that's holding a piano up with safety scissors. 

"John. I need you to be honest right now. How did King know about Peter?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Adams and Reynolds knew Peter's nickname for me, they knew when I found him, they knew  _how_ I found him. . . I only ever told you and Thomas that. So, I repeat, how. Did. They. Know."

Alex forgot that Samuel was even there until there was a quiet shuffling and a soft 'oh no' from the other side of the wall. John shifted uncomfortably and stayed quiet for a second. Alexander repeated the question again. 

". . . I told them."

Hamilton felt like a pot of water that was being transferred from a freezer to a flame and back to the freezer. The anger that was keeping him fuming ran cold with absolute emptiness. 

"You told them." Alex went over and sat on the sad excuse of a bed and ran a hand through his hair and over his face. "I trusted you with that. And you told an illegal job ring that apparently kidnaps people." He laughed the most humorless laugh possible. " _Why_?"

John only sighed went over and sat down next to Alex, who got up and moved away from him. He said nothing but the look he was going for was "what the actual hell is wrong with you", because when your best friend tells your worst enemies about something that could be used to ultimately destroy every sane part of your mind and render you completely helpless to anything they want, on top of helping them kidnap you and just completely destroy any respect and trust that you may have had for them, what more are you supposed to do?

"Come on, you have to listen to me, okay, I have a reason--"

"Oh great! A reason! Y'hear that, Sam, he has a reason!"

"Leave me out of it."

"Please, Laurens, tell me what was going through your mind when you decided you were going to help King and his cronies lock me in a cell, underground, with no intentions of letting me go alive. You didn't think of that, did you? That they're going to kill me."

John stayed quiet again for a few seconds. "I just. . . Maria told me what you did to Eliza Schuyler and she said we could just scare you a little. And I wanted to get you back, I guess? It wasn't supposed to go this far, Alex, I swear."

"Get me back for what?"

". . . Jefferson." John focused on picking at his nails. "I wanted to get back at you for dating Jefferson."

The pot was back on the flame. "How many times did I ask you if you were okay with that?! How many times did you tell me that it was fine!? I told you that if you weren't okay with it, then I wouldn't do anything about and you told me, and I quote, 'you should act on it if you want. If it makes you happy.' What happened to that, huh?"

"Alex,  _please_ , if you'd just let me explain!"

Hamilton sat down on the floor immediately. He kept the look on, hopefully telling John that he had one shot at the right explanation.

"Thank you," John took a breath like he was going to say something else, but Alexander assumed that he had nothing other than him being jealous of Thomas. Or maybe jealous of Hamilton himself. 

Hell, for all Alex knew, John just wanted back with Jefferson. 

"Get out," Hamilton growled.

"Alex. . ."

" _Out._ "

He felt stupid asking his best friend to leave an apparent jail cell, but that's all he had at this point. 

A cell that he was probably going to have to get used to being in, and anxious cell-neighbor, a bed that was probably made of wood, and that was it. 

He didn't even have his best friend anymore because John was part of the reason he was in the cell to begin with. 

The creaky door slammed closed as John left and immediately, Alex slid down on one of the walls. He leaned his head against once he was sitting on the floor and he took as big a breath as possibly could. Maybe to keep from crying or maybe to just take in the fact that he'd actually been kidnapped. 

Maybe both, he wasn't too sure. 

"Hey, Alexander?" Sam asked quietly.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Ask me again when I bust us out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm going to get us out of here as soon as I get the chance. I'm gonna go back to Jefferson, you'll go back to Lee, and that'll be it. These assclowns will be in jail."

". . .How?"

"How?"

"How are you going to get us out?" 

Sam sounded like he was back to being the nervous scrawny kid that was hanging off Lee's arm. Hamilton almost smiled as he made up a story on the spot about how they were going to make it out and get back to their respective boyfriends.


	33. Jefferson

The better part of Thomas's week was spent driving around. If he wasn't in class, he was driving around with someone from his chosen group of super sleuths trying to find Alex and Sam. On top of telling the police that Alex was officially a missing person, Thomas was using every second of free time that he found visiting places that Hamilton would have had even a remote interest in. 

He also developed a strong hatred for anyone walking around campus as a cop because they were doing less than nothing to help find them. At least in Thomas's eyes. They had a search party, but they were looking in obvious places. Cliched places. Anybody that's ever watched a criminal investigation show would know that the woods is the most common place to hide a victim, which is exactly why no one would do it.

Secret rooms and basements that don't exist would be the smartest choice and Thomas knew it. From his progress so far, that's where he expected them to be. 

Scared and cold in a basement with no ventilation and mold growing in the corners. . . It'd be dark, too. Too dark to know what time of day it is. Alex would try to keep himself alive as long as he possibly could, Thomas knew that much for sure. He'd stay alive. 

 

Jefferson tiredly walked out of the bookstore. He didn't remember going there before, but the shop's owner apparently did and he hadn't seen Alex or Sam.

Which is the same answer that he gave the first time. 

"Maybe we could call Jane, see if they found anything," Jefferson suggested when he got into the car. It was getting tedious asking around when he knew that nobody would know where they are. Maybe he was just looking for someone that looked suspicious. 

"I already did while you were inside," Lafayette said. "she hasn't seen anything." 

"That's fine, we'll just go check--" 

"Uhm, actually," Laf interrupted. "maybe we should head back?" 

Thomas looked at him in confusion. 

"Thomas, we've been out here for hours. That's not counting all the hours that we've spent looking this week, and you look like death. We can get some rest, come back out tomorrow and start again." 

"You want to stop?"

"No, I want to go sleep, get into a fresh mindset and start again tomorrow. I still want to find him, but we aren't going anywhere by checking the same places." 

"Yeah, you have classes tomorrow, right?" Lafayette nodded. "Alright, we'll go back. Maybe there's something in Alex's stuff that'll help." 

"Good thinking." 

 

Thomas dropped Laf back at his apartment building after listening to his reminders of how important sleep is. 

He texted everyone that he was done for the night as he went into the room. It was obvious that he needed to take a break from the looking, not like the ones the police were taking to gain more publicity, but he still felt like every second he wasn't out there looking was another second spent disappoint both Alex and his mom. 

She gave him one job to do, just make sure that nothing happened to her son and his lover, and so far he'd watched Alex get himself stuck in an illegal job ring, then a cult sort of situation, then he got kidnapped. Thomas seemed to be doing a bang-up job of keeping Hamilton safe. 

He sat down in front Alex's bed and started digging through the drawers to find a slip of paper or something that would help in the search. He felt like Alexander should have walked in and yelled at him for digging through his things, but Thomas figured that after a week it was safe to assume the obnoxious opinionated loudmouth wasn't coming home on his own. 

Which meant that it was in the hands of people like Jefferson to bring him back. 

And that was the most horrifying thought that Thomas had had during the entire situation. 

He didn't find anything in the drawers and there wasn't much else in the room to look through other than Alex's laptop which was already examined. Thomas sighed in defeat and pushed himself onto Alexander's bed. The covers were still wadded up and disorganized from the last time someone slept in it. Mostly because Thomas really wasn't one to be adamant about making beds. 

He flopped down and threw his arm over his eyes to block the light. Sure, he could have gotten up to turn off the light, but really he was almost too exhausted to breathe. 

It took a second before he realized the pillow seemed lumpier than it should have. He moved the headrest and found his letterman jacket wadded up into a ball and shoved under the pillow and almost in between the bed and the wall. 

 _So that's where that went,_ Thomas thought as he pulled the jacket out from underneath the pillow. 

He stared at it for a second in pure silence. It was so deafeningly quiet that he could practically hear the electricity buzzing in the walls. The jacket seemed way heavier than it really was and Thomas couldn't help but remember the times that Hamilton would either just take it or need it because he didn't bring a sweater of his own to wear. 

In specific, Jefferson remembered the first time that he ever gave the jacket to his roommate. They both hated each other and Alex was being a toddler and throwing a tantrum about not needing a sweater because of the cold and then silently regretting it when he got outside. Thomas laughed when he remembered the absolute stubbornness that Alex had. 

He thought about how far they'd come from that. They went from hating each other to dating each other and that's a pretty huge jump in feelings, depending on who you ask. 

Thomas sighed and hugged the sweater to his chest, pretending for a second, just one second, that he was hugging Alexander. 

"Don't worry, Alex, I'll find you."


	34. Hamilton

After what felt like days of being in the cell, Alexander figured out what Sam meant by trusting Maria and John Andre. Apparently, after Alex got taken, Laurens joined in on their little trust-circle. Hamilton refused to accept any food or drink from Laurens. 

He barely wanted to take anything from Maria, why would he want to take it from his former best friend?

It was almost right after Maria and the Johns left that someone else came down. They made no attempt to be quiet so Alex knew that it wasn't Maria, Laurens, or Andre coming down one more time for something. At first, he thought it was for Sam since King would come down and take him upstairs. Hamilton didn't want to know what happened when Sam left. 

Alex was surprised when the door to his cell opened, revealing a cocky looking John Adams in the doorway. 

"You know, you might want to lose some of that weight," Hamilton said once Adams was inside. 

"What?"

"For when Thomas finds me. You're going to need to outrun the cops and with all that flab you aren't going to be able to." 

Alex shrugged. He felt his shoulders scrap against the rough wall that he was sitting against, but he chose to ignore it for the sake of looking like he didn't care what happened.

Adams rolled his eyes. "Thomas isn't looking for you."

"Mm, yes he is." 

"No, he isn't." 

"Is." 

"Isn't!"

"He is."

"Not!" 

"You're really lacking in maturity, are you sure you're the one supposed to be down here? I mean, King probably should have sent Reynolds or someone more capable of handling this." Hamilton shrugged again. "You probably snuck down here, which means you can't do anything to me without getting in trouble." 

"King's the one that sent me down here! And Thomas isn't looking for you, he told me himself that he was glad you were gone." 

"Hey, do me a favor, would you? Go tell King to get his ass down here or send someone that's at least decent at making me think that my boyfriend isn't looking for me. Honestly, the way you're talking just makes me think that he's getting too close for comfort and you're trying to get me away from having any hope of getting out." Alexander glared up at Adams. "Tell him I said hi next time you see him."

Adams stayed quiet and held a hard glare at Alex as he left. He left the door open so Hamilton assumed he'd be back. He heard another door open, the jingling of a chain, and shuffling back over to his cell door. He was beyond confused when Sam was shoved inside. 

"Now," Adams said, a smirk pulling onto his face. "I can't do anything to you because you'd probably bite me and you were technically a part of our community. Samuel, on the other hand, is free game." 

Alexander's fearless attitude dropped. Sam looked at him in confusion and Alex matched it.

"So we're playing a game! You can get out of here, Alex, if you take the job that you were given initially. Just switch places with Tom and you can be out of this! Not out of the organization, but out of the cell. What d'ya say?"

"Go fuck yourself."

Adams shrugged. He pushed his foot forcefully into Seabury's back, sending him to his hands and knees on the floor. Hamilton had no doubt that Sam would be bruising in a matter of hours. 

"Every time you say no, Sammy here gets another hit. That was just your warning." Adams kept his foot on Samuel's back to keep him on his hands and knees, but not enough to actually push him down. "So, I'll ask again. What's it going to be." 

 

 

By the time it was over, Sam was bleeding on the floor of the cell. Adams had left him there for a second while he apparently went to go get the first-aid kit. Alex didn't believe him until he threw an old looking tote into the cell, almost hitting Alexander in the head when he did, and shut the door. 

Hamilton went as close to Sam as he could before ripping a part off of the sheet that was supposed to be a blanket. It was thin, so it's not like it was hard to do or such a huge loss. He sat Sam against the wall and poured rubbing alcohol on the sheet rag. 

"I'm sorry," he muttered as he dabbed the cloth on some of the cuts. "I just can't do that to him."

"I wouldn't want you to," Sam whispered. "I'd do the same for Charles. No offense." 

Alex had to smile as he resoaked the cloth in rubbing alcohol. "None taken." 

Sam hissed in pain when Hamilton touched a cut on his forehead. 

"Sorry, I have to clean it." Alexander tried going over it lightly but it didn't seem to help much.

It took maybe twenty minutes to get the blood cleaned up and get more strips of the sheet to wrap him with. By the time he was done, Alex had a child-sized sheet on the slab of bed and he'd definitely use it the next time King sent someone down. 

They sat in silence for a second before Samuel spoke up. 

"Can you tell me how we're getting out again?" He asked quietly. 

Hamilton nodded. "We'll wait until Maria is one hundred percent trusted. She'll get Laurens and Andre to help out and once they're all on our side, one of them can get the keys to the chains. We can probably get out in the middle of the day while everyone other than Maria's gone. You said she knows the code to the cells, right?"

Sam nodded. 

"So she can let us out. As soon as she does, we'll go straight to the police and tell them who they need to arrest. They'll get put in jail, we'll be out of here. . . But I'm not coming out without you. If they notice one of us gone they could just kill the other and leave."

"Then I'm not leaving without you either. Either we both get out, or we wait until that's a possibility." 

Alex smiled at Sam. It wasn't a happy one, he wanted Sam to get out first, but it was almost sympathetic. Samuel had spent way longer in the cells than Alex had but he was still saying that he would wait until both of them could get out. And the worst part about it? Alexander knew that Samuel meant it. He sighed. 

"You should rest off some of the pain. Just sleep in my bed," Hamilton offered. "We don't know when they're coming back to move you back into your own cell."

Sam nodded, he got up into the bed. 

"Thomas is looking for you Alex. There's no way he isn't."

 Alex smiled again. 

"Good night, Sam."

"Good night." Almost immediately after he said that Sam fell asleep. 

Once he was asleep, Alexander looked at the chain keeping him hooked to the wall. His ankle was starting to get sore under it. A part of him wondered if Adams was telling the truth about Thomas not looking for him, but the logical part knew that Jefferson was probably driving himself insane trying to find him. 

He sighed and got as comfortable as he possibly could on the floor. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, pretending for a second, just one second, that Thomas was hugging him after a nightmare. 

He opened his eyes again, hoping to be in the dorm room. But he wasn't. He was still in the cell and Sam was still in his bed and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was still scared. 

Beyond scared, actually, he was absolutely terrified and he didn't even know if he was going to make it out alive. Sure, he was telling Sam that he had a plan, but there were so many flaws in the plan that it would never work, not even with an insane amount of luck. It was just a story that he was telling to keep Sam's hopes up for when someone finds him. Alex figured that if he mouthed off enough, the focus would stay on him and off of Samuel, then maybe Sam would be able to get found before he got too hurt. 

Hamilton sat up and pulled his knees to his chest like a little kid that was scared of the dark. It didn't exactly feel brave or anything, but no one was around and Sam was asleep so he let himself cry for a little while.

"Please be close, Thomas," Alex whispered to himself. "I don't want to be here, please just be close." 


	35. Laurens

John watched sadly as Ale

xander turned away from him again. He knew that he deserved it and he regretted agreeing to it, but he was trying to explain himself and Alex wasn't even trying to listen! Then again, there really isn't any way to put it without making himself seem worse. 

'Oh yeah, I helped kidnap you because I'm totally jealous that Thomas gets to be with you and not me!'

'I know that I said I wanted you to be happy, but apparently, that means by my own standards because I'm a selfish dickwad!'

'You should forgive me. Why? Because I kidnapped you but I'm trying to prove that I'm not an asshole by talking to you in your cell while your boyfriend is out there flipping his shit trying to find you.'

None of those options really seemed like great choices but he wanted to help get Hamilton out somehow. The only problem with that was that any time he brought it up to Maria, she freaked out and refused to even think about it. He couldn't get Alexander out by himself without something going wrong and both of them dying, so he decided to leave it alone. 

"Laurens, I said leave." Alex's voice brought John back to reality. "I'd like to enjoy the peace and quiet that you 'helped' me get." 

Laurens sighed and left. He left the basement and realized that he'd be in even more trouble if he got caught after curfew and judging by the already pitch dark outside world, it was time for him to head home. He didn't bother saying bye to anyone before he left, mostly because he hated everyone there.   
  
  
  


As he walked, he was half tempted to just tell Thomas what was going on. It would have saved Jefferson some sanity, John some conscience, Alex some trauma, and everyone some time. John had no idea what happened when he was gone but every time he went to check on Alex, he would take a peek at Samuel and he would have a new bruise every time.  

As much as Samuel needed out, Alexander was definitely John's priority. 

He made it into the apartment building with just a few minutes to spare. Which would have prompted some questions from his friends had they not already been asleep. He went straight into his room and sat down on the bed. He didn't want to lay down, he just wanted to sit for a second. 

He felt like a little kid again. It felt like if he closed his eyes, he'd be back in his childhood home thinking about how he hated his mom for sending him to his room. He snuck a cookie to eat, even though they were for his sister's bake sale. That was it. He didn't kidnap his best friend. 

John tried to push down the nostalgia but he couldn't. He didn't want to think of anything else. All he wanted was for his mom to come in, hold him, and tell him that it was going to be alright and that they'd figure it out together, just like she did when he came out to his family.

He wanted it so much that he even looked over at the door, expecting her to walk in. 

But of course, he was completely alone in this and he had to push through his own mess. 

He put a hand over his mouth when he felt the heavy tears coming. 

It had become such a normal thing for John to be sitting with a hand clamped over his mouth and tears making steady streams down his cheeks in the middle of the night that he didn't even know when it started. He could think about it and say for sure, but it felt like something he'd always done.

He thought about what Alex was feeling. How betrayed and hurt he must have felt when he realized that John had something to do with his kidnapping. He thought about how disappointed his family would be and how much his friends would hate him if they found out. He wanted to tell them everything and to end everything, but he couldn't bring himself to do it because he didn't want them to leave him. He knew that it was what he deserved, but that didn't make it any easier to do. 

Unfortunately for him, the door creaked open and left him backed into a corner. 

"John? Are you alright?"

John quickly wiped his eyes like that would help, which it didn't, before Lafayette could see the tears.

"Y-Yeah, I just. . . I had a hard day, it's fine," he lied. 

Laf seemed to see through it and sat down next to him. He put an arm around John's shoulders and rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"It's okay,  _mon triste ami,_ you can tell me what's going on, you know."

John nodded as his tears got heavier.

"I-I did something bad, Laffy. I did something really really bad and I don't know what do. . ." he was sure that most of his words were muffled and choked out, but his friend seemed to understand fine. Laf nodded.

"Deep breaths.  _Souvient toi de respirer,_ " Lafayette whispered. He was probably using the "repeat it in different languages" rule that he always used when comforting anyone. He said that it made the brain think a little harder and took away from the focus on the problem. "Tell me what you did."

"Y-You're gonna hate me."

"I won't. If you want to fix it, you regret it and I'd forgive you for trying to fix what you did." 

"I was just-- I was just jealous and she came and I thought it was a good idea at the time but it wasn't and I want to take it back and now I can't--"

"John. Breathe." Laf inhaled deeply as an example and exhaled when John copied him. 

"I. . . I know where Alex is." 

"Why didn't you say something sooner! John, that's important, we could use that to get the kidnappers. . . arrested. . . Oh, my God, what did you do?" 

"I-- I'm sorry! It wasn't supposed to go this far, I swear!"

"You've been helping us look!" 

John wrapped his arms around himself as Lafayette jumped off the bed. 

 _I knew it_ , he thought.  _I knew it, he hates me. He's going to tell Hercules and he'll hate me, Thomas will hate me, they'll all hate me. Maybe they'll understand that I was manipulated? No, they'll hate me. They won't understand, they'll all hate me. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it--_

"John!" Lafayette yelled, shaking Laurens's shoulders lightly. "We need to tell Thomas." 

"No! I can't do that!" 

"Why not?"

"Because! He'll hate me, and he'd probably kill me and I just can't do that." 

 "John, he's Alexander's boyfriend. We need to tell him. He needs to know." Laf sighed. "I know you don't want us to hate you, and I don't hate you. But actions have consequences and you need to understand that. If they decide to hate you for what you did, you don't have the right to be mad about it." 

John nodded sadly and wiped his eyes again like it would help with the tears. Just like before, it didn't. Since he left his blood family, Mulligan and Lafayette had been the closest thing he had. They'd been together through thick and thin and he didn't want to lose them as friends or family but he couldn't get through his first year of college without fucking it up. 

Lafayette seemed to soften slightly as he sat down on the bed again. He pulled John into a hug and let him cry as they rocked back and forth. 

"I don't hate you, John. I won't hate you. Neither will Hercules. We're a family, alright? What you did was stupid and you will have to face the consequences, but I won't hate you for something you regret."

John couldn't seem to form words, so he just nodded. He closed his eyes and imagine his childhood home again. The only difference being his family was Lafayette, Hercules, and Alex. He could practically smell the fresh baked cookies and he had no idea if that made him feel better or worse. 

"Please help me," John whispered. "I don't want to tell Thomas on my own, please?"

It took Laf a second to reply, but he agreed to help tell Thomas. John would have to talk, but Laf would be there with him to make sure no one died. 


	36. Jefferson

_"As much as I'd hate to admit it, you were definitely right. This is. . ."_

_"Beautiful?"_

_"Don't push it, I was going to say aesthetically pleasing," Alex laughed. He leaned on the railing and closed his eyes peacefully. The wind was blowing softly through his hair and Thomas almost forgot what they were there for. He was just so captivated by his boyfriend that time seemed to slow down. He was glad that everything was years in the past, leaving him to just enjoy the fact that he had Alex back._

_"I'm sure you were." Thomas's hand drifted to the small black box sitting in his pocket. For some reason, he felt around at every detail on the box. Probably to stall._

_"You know, you brought me all the way up here to look out on probably some of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen and you've made no attempt to be sappy and romantic with me. If I didn't know any better I'd say that you planning on breaking up with me. Beautifully bitter, y'know?" Alexander turned around with a smirk on his face. The smirk immediately fell when he noticed Thomas on one knee. "What are you doing?"_

_"Alexander Hamilton you are probably the most annoying person that I have ever met, but honestly, now that I know you, I'd go crazy without you. Hell, I probably would have. . . So. . . Would you do me the honor of being my ticket onto Easy Street?" Thomas's nerves were raging when he pulled the box from his pocket._

_In the most cliched way possible, Alex covered his mouth._

_"I don't have very much money to offer you to get onto Easy Street."_

_"Everything's easier when you're around. Mostly, at least." Thomas smiled. "Like I said, you're my favorite annoyance. So? Can I have an answer here?"_

_"Can you ask me like a normal person?"_

_Thomas laughed for a second. "Alexander Hamilton, will you marry me?"_

_Suddenly Hamilton's face went dead serious. "Why would I?"_

_Thomas stared at him in shock. "What?"_

_"Why would I marry you when you weren't there to help me? I was begging for you to help me, why weren't you there, Thomas?"_

_"I was trying to find you!"_

_"Not hard enough. You aren't trying hard enough. Why aren't you trying hard enough, am I not enough for you, Thomas? Is this your way of breaking up with a pity-date, just leaving me to potentially die? Why are you wasting time?"_

_"What are you talking about! You're standing right in front of me!"_

_Thomas looked back down at the box in his hands, only it wasn't there anymore. Somehow it had crumbled to dust and fell right through his fingers. He looked back up at Alexander's face and fell backward, quickly shuffling away. His eyes were nothing more than black holes in his head and it felt like they were staring into Thomas's soul._

_"What's wrong Thomas? Don't you love me anymore, Thomas?"_

_"Yes!" Thomas didn't know how much farther back he could go before he hit a wall. "I still love you, Alex, that hasn't changed! I'm trying!"_

_"No you aren't, you're wasting time stop wasting time."_

_Everything seemed to be getting darker as Thomas looked into Alex's dark eyes. They were terrifying and Jefferson didn't want to go ear them but as soon as Hamilton started blending in with everything else in getting darker, Thomas was running toward him. Despite his running being at full speed, Thomas was staying in the same spot until the surface that he was standing on disappeared completely from under him._

 

He bolted upright in the bed, quickly realizing that it was just a dream. He didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed to know that that wasn't really his Alex. He sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair as he got back into his right mind. He glanced over at his alarm clock to see how much time he had left before his first class of the day. 

The blinking numbers meant close to nothing to him, but he had just enough time to get fully ready and still be early, so he decided to get going to start his day of learning and obsessive searching. 

 

The day dragged on annoyingly slow. Thomas wanted to scream by the end of his last class. Instead, he just rushed back to his dorm room to get what he needed to start looking again. He was surprised to see Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette already sitting on Alex's bed. 

"Hey, you guys ready to go look?" He asked.

"You need to sit down," Hercules said in a low voice. That sent anxiety raging through Thomas's body. There was only one thing that he could think of that would be serious enough for him to be sitting. 

"No," he answered. "We. . . We need to go look for Alex." 

Lafayette stood up and sat Thomas down on the bed on the opposite side of the room. "He's right, you need to sit." 

"Last night," Laf said when was back to sitting. "John was having a bit of a breakdown."

"Well, I mean, his best friend is sort of missing so that's--"

"That's not what it was," John interrupted. He refused to look up from the ground. "I. . . I know who took Alex. I know where he is." 

"That's great! Who?" Thomas was almost ready to cheer until he saw that their faces weren't happy in the slightest. "He isn't. . . He's not dead is he?" 

"No! No." John took a deep breath but didn't say anything else. 

". . . Then what's the problem? Why are we just sitting here when John figured it out?"

"I didn't figure it out." 

"Are you going to stop being vague?"

John flinched even though Thomas barely even raised his voice. 

"I only know where he is and who took him because. . . Because I helped."

"Find him?" Thomas asked, even though he knew the answer. "I swear to God, you better be planning on finishing that with you helped find him."

John wiped his eyes and kept looking at the ground. 

"You son of a bitch." Thomas stood up and tried pulling John off the bed. Mulligan stepped protectively in front of him. "Move!"

"No."

"I'm sorry, did you not hear what he just said? He's part of the reason Alex is gone!" Thomas focused on John again. "He trusted you! This entire you've been getting on me about not hurting him, and here you are fucking  _kidnapping_  him!"

"He's going to take us to him, aren't you, John?" Laf said, obviously trying to get John to say yes so Thomas wouldn't literally murder him. 

John looked up at him, confused. "What? No."

Thomas went for John again and this time Hercules almost let him. 

"What do you mean 'no'?!" Thomas shouted. 

"You can't just walk in. King'll know you're coming, so we need to get a plan before we try anything." 

"I'll tell you my plan, my plan is to get my goddamn boyfriend away from his psychopathic friend and out of the situation that you put him in." 

"Thomas, that won't work!" John stepped in front of Hercules, obviously testing his boundaries. "Look, I can get him out, alright? They're used to me being there, it won't look suspicious. You, on the other hand, King's got more than one person keeping tabs on you." 

Jefferson looked at John suspiciously. "And how am I supposed to trust you?" 

"I guess you can't. . . But I know that there is no excuse for this. None. And I want to try to at least redeem myself a little? I want to help."

Thomas stayed quiet. He looked at Lafayette and Hercules who were silently nodding like they believed him. He sighed. 

"Fine, what do you got?" 


	37. Hamilton

 If he had a rubber ball, Alexander would feel like the perfect prisoner. Maybe a metal mug to drag across some bars and a harmonica. He could probably make a jammin' band out of that. Sam on the harmonica, him on the mugbars with some vocals thrown in. . . 

And he was officially crazy. 

"Hey, Sam."

"What?" 

"You think we could make a jail band?" 

Sam snorted and laughed a little before he started coughing. Alex had no doubt that Samuel's throat was as dry and sore as his own since it had been days since they'd gotten a comfortable amount of food or drink. King would come down occasionally with the bare minimum, but Hamilton definitely wanted to see Maria with a tray of food. 

"Alex, this isn't jail, you know. Neither of us did anything wrong to be here." 

That sparked curiosity. 

"Why are you here, anyway? I mean, why did they choose to take you?" 

Seabury was quiet for a second. "That's, uhm, George and I were in a relationship a while ago and he wasn't. . . he isn't a nice guy. Lee convinced me to move in with him instead and I just ended it with George. . . Blocked his number and everything." He sighed. "I didn't even know he went here." 

Alex's mind floated back to the job he did against Sam. It seemed like a million years ago, but he realized that he was the reason that Sam was even there in the first place. He didn't bring up that little fact. 

"Wait, George?"

"Oh, right. King. The apparent ringleader. He always uses his last name to sound more intimidating, I mean really, would you have taken him seriously with a name like George?" 

"No, definitely not." 

They stopped talking when the door opened. If they were looking for subtlety, they should have really fixed the door. Hamilton listened to the footsteps to try and figure out who it was. It was quiet, so he was probably going to have to wait longer for good food and water, and they weren't particularly excited, so it wasn't King or Adams. That only left one person. . . 

Sure enough, James Reynolds appeared in the doorway to Alex's cell. 

"Hey, Hammy," 

"Fuck you." 

"Nice to see you too, this is your last chance to switch places with Jefferson. We aren't going to ask again and you're going to hate what happens if you say no," James said. He just went through it like he really didn't want Hamilton to change his mind but he had to say it anyway. "So?"

Alexander pretended to think about it. 

"You know, now that I'm thinking about it, my answer has changed! Yeah, it used to be 'fuck off' now I think it's 'go to hell'. That seems more fitting." Hamilton smiled innocently, which Reynolds returned. As soon as James was smiling, Alex's fell to a look of confusion. "What's got you so damn happy?" 

"Oh, nothing," he hummed. He shut the door and moved over to Sam's. "I told you, though, you'd hate what happens." 

Alex walked himself over to the bars and watched confused as Reynolds unlocked Sam's chain and pulled him out of the cell. It suddenly hit him that whatever was happening, it probably didn't have to do with letting Samuel go. 

"What are you doing!?" Alex called. Sam looked like he was too shocked to do anything. "Bring him back!" 

James didn't listen. Hamilton listened to the still creaky door open and close. He refused to admit that he couldn't do anything about it though, so he continued screaming and shouting at anyone that could hear him until he physically couldn't anymore. 

He had no way to tell how long he was yelling, he had no one to talk to keep him sane, he had no way of getting out, he had nothing other the complete quiet of the room. It was so quiet that it was almost loud. He never liked the quiet before. 

* * *

 

Hamilton couldn't tell if it felt like days or hours before someone else finally came down. This time the footsteps were fast and hurried, so he couldn't tell who it was until Laurens opened his door. 

"Come on, we need to go," he rushed, running over to unlock the chain with a key that he probably stole from Reynolds.

"Go?"

"Yeah, go, while we still have time, let's go." 

Alex didn't say anything else as John practically dragged him up the stairs and through a closet, into a cabin-looking place that he didn't recognize. He didn't have much time to process the dizziness until he stopped in his tracks. 

"We aren't leaving without Sam."

John groaned quietly. "Ham, we don't have time for this, I need to get  _you_  out, we can come back for him."

"No, he needs to get back to Lee and I need to--"

"Get back to Thomas. He's waiting for you, alright, and I need to get you out of here before--"

Something thudded heavily somewhere in the house. 

"Before that," John finished. "I promise, we'll come back." 

He dragged Alex through the back door into some thick looking woods. Alex could't see more than ten feet ahead, but that might have just been because of the dark on top of the thick trees. They stayed weaving through trees instead of taking the straightest path after gunshots started booming around them. Hamilton wanted to look back to see who it was that was chasing them, but he didn't want to risk getting shot and he didn't want John to get hurt either. All in all, John helped hi break out, and that was enough for Alex to at least not hate him. 

They ran for a solid ten minutes at full speed before the gunshots stopped. They hid behind a huge tree to catch their breath. Alex's heart was going too fast for him to even consider the cold. 

John leaned against the tree next to Hamilton, the only difference between the two was that John's breath was more shallow and ragged.

"John, are you okay?" Hamilton asked after a minute or two of his breathing being steady while Laurens was still practically wheezing. 

"Yeah, let's keep moving," John stood up, took a step, and collapsed onto his knees. Alex looked at the hand that John was holding his side with, noticing that it was starting to drip with a red liquid that probably wasn't colored water. 

"John!" Alex went over to help him sit back against the tree but it ended up with him just laying on the ground in the snow. Hamilton moved John's hand and pressed his own down. "Shit, why didn't you say anything?!" 

"I needed to get you as far away as possible. You need to keep going." 

"No, I left Sam, I'm not leaving you out here to die too. I don't even know where we are! And how can I say that you helped me if you die out here?" 

"I died a hero, then," John laughed. "Better than keeping it a villain right?" 

Alex wiped his eyes, which just got blood smeared on his face. 

"I'm sorry," John whispered. 

"You said that already, and I'll forgive you if you don't die." 

"So you'll hate me if I die?"

"Yes!" 

John hummed in response and clenched his teeth. 

"Turtles, by the way." 

"What?"

"You asked when we first met. . . You asked me what my favorite animal was. You were being sarcastic to prove your point, but like I said, the little things matter." 

"Oh shut up, you aren't allowed to reminisce like you're dying." 

"Alex, I think we both know. . ." 

"Shut up." Despite the growing dizziness, Alexander pulled John up and helped him walk through the woods. "You're coming with me to a hospital, I won't tell them that you helped with any of that, and everything's going to be fine." 

"Alex. . ." 

"I said shut up."

Laurens only stayed quiet for thirty seconds. 

"I love you, you know." 

Hamilton almost stopped in his tracks.

"What?"

"I love you. I was going to tell you that before when I called you while you were visiting your mom. But I panicked and then you started talking about Jefferson. . . I really don't hate that you're with him, I was just upset. . ." 

"That it wasn't you. . ."

"Yeah." 

"I'm sorry, John, I-- I should have considered that. . . But when we're done with this, we're going to figure something out, alright? You, me, and Thomas are going to sit down and talk something through so we can all go on and be friends. How does that sound?" 

John didn't say anything and Alex noticed the weight on his shoulders was heavier. He looked down at John and realized that he wasn't moving. 

At all. 

He wasn't running, but Hamilton's breath picked up and panic tears were already slipping down his face. He fell back to the ground. He tried shaking and slapping John to wake him up, neither of which worked.

"No, don't leave me out here like this! Come on, John, wake up! John!" Hamilton tried chest compressions, but then he panicked again after a few minutes and pushed down on the wound again. He hated how warm it made his hands.

"Jack, please! I don't want to lose you too! Jacky come on!" 

Without thinking about he yelled for someone to help them. His throat was still sore from yelling about Sam, though, so that didn't last long. Then he remembered that John had a phone. 

Carefully avoiding looking at John's half-lidded eyes, Alex reached into John's pocket to get his phone. Like he feared, there was no signal. 

He was going to start yelling again, but he could hear the snow crunching behind him. He looked up to see someone smiling at him. 

"What are you doing all the way out here?"


	38. Jefferson

Thomas paced the floor with Lee at his side. He called Charles there as soon as John left to get Alex.

He figured that if anyone else had a right to be there, it was Charles Lee. Of course, he didn't want to be in a room alone with him so he invited his sisters over. Lafayette and Mulligan would already there, which made it a full house and kind of crowded. They had the news playing on the T.V. that Alex brought in, hoping to get some word in before John got back. 

Thomas would have felt better if John would have told him where the place was in case something went wrong, but all he got to know was that it was a cabin out somewhere so there wouldn't be any signal on his phone and some half-hearted assurance that nothing would go wrong that he couldn't handle. Jefferson would just have to wait for something to come in. 

While he and Charles were pacing, Laf and Herc were listening to the news and the girls were hovering around a phone with a downloadable police scanner buzzing. Thomas counted the steps that he was taking to keep his mind focused on something that wasn't his still-technically-missing boyfriend. As much as he wanted to hope for something good, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going wrong. Every time he thought about Alex or something to do with the situation, he started his counting over. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-- what if John got caught?_

Start over. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-- they're dead, I know it._

Start over. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5-- they'd be back by now. Or we would have heard something._

Start over. 

_1, 2, 3-- something happened._

Start over. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-- John lied, he's just going to hide Alex even more._

Start over.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9--_

"They should have said something by now, why isn't anything happening?"

Thomas didn't realize he'd said anything out loud until Jane answered him. 

"Tommy, come on, we just need to wait. You have to give John time--" 

"Oh, time my ass, I gave him time. This is just bordering the line of building suspense and it's getting on my nerves. The only thing I want to know is whether or not they're alive." Thomas sat down on his bed and within half a second he was back up to pacing with Lee, who was taking nervous glances at the television.

"They?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, they. Sam and Alex. The only two people that really matter right now." 

"Thomas," Mary cut in. "John is goin' in and risking his life to get those two out of there." 

"Yeah, he's the reason Alex is gone in the first place, Mary," Thomas snapped. 

"He's trying to redeem himself!" 

"He wouldn't have to redeem himself if he didn't--" 

"Would you two knock it off!" Herc said, shushing them from Alexander's bed. He motioned to the T.V. where a flaming building was shown. "Something's happening." 

Charles and Thomas both rushed over to the screen, watching closely for a second. They shared a look that they knew meant 'maybe it isn't them', but then they heard the sirens wailing down the street. They bolted out of the room and ran down the stairs, ignoring the shouts coming from the other rooms. 

Thomas heard his sisters calling that they would meet there but he didn't acknowledge them. He needed to get to that cabin. Adding to Thomas's 'fuck off' list, he completely ignored Benedict in the lobby yelling that it was past curfew and they weren't getting let back in. 

As soon as he was outside in the cold, he was glad that he didn't take off the Letterman in the hot dorm room because it was colder than a witch's tit and he was pretty sure the short sleeve under the jacket wasn't going to do anything. 

He jumped into his car with Lee and decided that a seatbelt wasn't worth it, even though he was driving like a maniac, barely obeying the rules of the road. 

Charles was out of the car before Thomas had a chance to stop and he was immediately pushed back by an officer. Jefferson followed him, stopping just before the cut-off line for civilians. The flames were bigger than he thought they were, and he could feel them from where he was standing, even though he wasn't all that close at all. 

He was calm for all of three seconds before it hit him that Alex could still be inside. Nobody was rushing in to get anyone from the burning building, so he wanted to believe that maybe they got everyone out and maybe Hamilton was sitting in some ambulance getting poked at. 

Thomas ran off, leaving Lee to look around on his own. Really, Jefferson didn't want to be around Charles more than he really had to. He needed to get Alexander, everything before and after that didn't exactly matter. 

He didn't know how long he was walking around looking at as much as he possibly could, which wasn't much at all, before an officer came up to stop him. Thomas jumped back and stared at him silently until he moved his hand. 

"Is there a reason you're here?" the officer asked. His voice was surprisingly deep, given how young he looked. Probably not much older than Jane. 

"I'm looking for someone," Thomas muttered. He tried to start walking around again but the officer pulled him back. 

"Alexander Hamilton." After a second of hesitation, he decided to add in John's name.

The other man looked back at one of his colleagues and cleared his throat nervously. 

"Sir, I think you need to go home and rest--" 

"Why?" 

"Leave us your contact information and we'll reach you, alright?" 

Thomas was going to complain or just keep walking, but Jane came up and ended the situation before her brother got himself arrested. She left her own information and pulled Thomas toward Lafayette and Hercules, who were waiting by their own car with Charles. 

"Okay, why don't we all just have a sleepover?" Laf suggested. He tried sounding happy but it wasn't working. "Benedict already said you weren't getting back in--" 

"I'm just going to walk home," Charles said quietly. He looked like he already got news that he didn't like, which made Thomas even more nervous about what happened to Alex. 

"Are you sure? We could drive you. . ." 

"No, I'm just going to go." Without another word, he walked away into the night like a mysterious vampire character. 

"He's probably just tired. . . They're fine, Thomas." Mary put a comforting hand on Thomas's shoulder and led him into the car with Laf and Herc in the front seat.   
  


* * *

 

Later that night, Thomas was laying in the living room of his friends' apartment, staring at the ceiling and thinking about surprisingly nothing. And sort of everything, but it felt more like nothing. Jane and Mary were laying on opposite sides of the couch, both snoring away. 

He was straining his ears to listen to his phone, which wasn't making any noise whatsoever and it was driving him insane. The only really normal thing that he didn't mind feeling was the overwhelming urge to find duct tape and tape his sisters' mouths shut because both of them were snoring like wild boars that half swallowed their tongues. 

It was beyond annoying, especially since he was trying to figure out the most plausible situation that could have happened to Hamilton. The cop obviously knew something, or he wouldn't have looked back at his colleague the way he did. . . 

Thomas rolled over onto his side and stared at a clock. He kept telling himself to go to sleep, but he really couldn't and he really didn't want to. Instead, he sat up and stuffed his hands into the pockets of the Letterman he was still wearing. He was surprised to feel a neatly folded piece of paper sitting inside. 

Carefully and quietly, he took the paper out, along with his phone. He turned on phone's flashlight and unfolded the paper, looking at the semi-neat doodling all over the page. It was obviously Alexander's handwriting, but the real kicker was that they were all combinations of both of their names. You know how thirteen-year-olds write out what their name would look like if they married their crush? It looked exactly like that. 

Thomas smiled as he looked at it. He felt like he was going to cry, but he didn't, he just read over all the options that were on the page and picked out which ones were his favorite, by way of font, style, and actual sound. There was something he could bring up when he found Hamilton.


	39. Jefferson

"Twelve years of looking forward to the end of high school and school, in general, was wasted just to be shoved back into more school that apparently has kidnappings, death, and illegal job rings."

"Hey, Thomas. . ." 

"What?"

"We need to go." 

Thomas rolled over to face his sister. She had the same motherly face that he'd grown up with, but now she looked more exhausted and her cheeks looked almost as tear-stained as Thomas's. 

Almost. 

They'd gotten word that Alex was probably dead. That the cops weren't going to look for him for very much longer because there was more evidence saying he was dead than saying he was alive. The way Thomas saw it, they were taking the easy way out because now that they've got the publicity, they need to give it an ending to make themselves look good. Which meant that the people they couldn't find were probably dead. 

So they were having a ceremony for the ones that got mixed up in all of this and didn't make it out alive. For Samuel Seabury, and for Alexander Hamilton, and for John Laurens. . . and for everyone that was close to them. 

"Thomas? Are you coming?" Jane asked quietly. Thomas knew she wasn't going to force him to go. But he also knew that he needed to. 

It wasn't a funeral. Just a little gathering around the edge of the woods for anyone that wanted to pay their respects to dead people with no bodies. Sounded like a blast to Thomas. He slowly pushed himself up to sit up on his bed. He didn't want to go, but he had to. He knew he had to. Before actually getting off the bed, he glanced sadly at Hamilton's bed--

 _Former_ bed. Alex wasn't going to be coming back there, so Thomas would probably get a new dormmate that wasn't Hamilton and he'd probably hate the poor new kid. Not the way he hated Alexander Hamilton, though, that was the kind of hate that was easily changed because there was no real foundation. He'd have a reason to hate whoever they assigned to him because he didn't want a new roommate. He wanted his old one back. 

Before leaving, Thomas grabbed a candle that he bought and pulled on the letterman jacket. He felt around for the paper inside and when he found it, he took a deep breath and followed Jane out of his dorm room and into the hallway. It was pretty empty, probably because it was already snowing out and nobody wanted to be out in it. 

* * *

 

There were maybe ten people standing in front of a small line of framed pictures when Thomas got there, including Lafayette, Mulligan, and Lee. Jane and Mary both walked over and stood with the others while he stayed back for a second. He couldn't see the pictures clearly yet, but he already knew who they showed. 

When he made his way up to the rest of the line, it was pointless to hold back any of the tears. Everyone else was crying, so Thomas figured that nobody was going to say anything. Despite the snow, people were laying candles around the frames. Some of them were put out, but most of them stayed lit.  

Thomas lit his candle and bent down on his knees in front of Alex's picture. He stared at it for a second. He didn't know where they got it, but they definitely chose a good one. The only picture that Jefferson had seen where Alexander was smiling wider was the one of his full family. He set the candle down and stared for one more second. It sunk in that it was the last time that he'd see Alex's face and it wasn't even really him. 

Mary knelt down beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was crying about as much as her brother as she looked at the picture. Jane did the same. Laf and Herc followed and, surprisingly, so did Lee.

After a few minutes, Hercules stood up. "Alright, I don't think they'd want us to be sitting in the freezing cold being saps," he said. 

Thomas glared back at him. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Go out. Have a drink. Remember the good parts of when they were. . . alive. . ." 

"Underage," Thomas and Mary said at the same time. 

"Yeah, at least half of us are. Including you," Charles pointed out. 

"Nobody said we were drinking alcohol." Herc shrugged and helped Lafayette off the ground. "Come on, we can go back to our place." 

"Y'all go ahead," Mary said, standing up with Jane. "You were closer to them anyway." 

"Are you sure?" Thomas asked. 

Jane smiled and kissed his forehead. "You'll need the closure, Tommy. We love you." 

Thomas smiled and walked away with his friends. 

 

 

Skip ahead an hour to everyone sitting around, laughing about times they had with John, Alex, and Sam over cups of apple juice. 

"There was one time when--" Hercules had to stop to keep himself from laughing. "John had just invited us to South Carolina and we dared him to use a plastic bag as a parachute." 

Everyone seemed to guess the ending of the story because they all broke out laughing. 

"Yeah, you can guess how that turned out," Laf finished. "a few broken bones, but an unbreakable friendship." 

Everyone raised their glass. "To unbreakable friendships!"

Thomas had to admit, he was surprised to hear Lee joining in with his own stories about Sam. It was a great lighthearted time that everyone used for some sort of closure. He was kind of glad that his sisters decided to skip out. They weren't close to any of the victims like the rest of them were. Like Laf said, he and Hercules had an unbreakable friendship with John, while Thomas and Charles were slightly more romantic. 

"I would like to propose an apple juice toast!" Lee said as he stood. 

Everyone looked at him expectantly. 

"To those who had to die so no one else has to go through this. Their glory lives on!"

"To glory!" Everyone shouted. 

They laughed over stories for a while more before deciding that it was getting a little late and they all "drank enough for the night." 

"You're welcome to stay the night," Hercules offered as he put away the gallons of juice. 

"I'll have to pass," Lee said. "I have things to do tomorrow. Thanks, though." 

"Anytime,  _mon ami_ , let me call you a cab, you've had a lot to drink," Laf said sarcastically. 

"I appreciate it, but I think I'll be alright." Charles smiled one last time before walking out. 

"What about you, Thomas? I can make up a bed in the living room again." Lafayette said as Herc went back to their shared room. He smiled warmly. "You'll have to forgive me, I just can't give out his bedroom yet. . ."

Thomas smiled back. "It's fine, I understand, Laf. But I, uhm, I wanted to apologize."

"For?" 

"For what I did to John. I just can't remember if I said it to him while he was alive and I feel like I need to--" 

The Frenchman cut him off by putting up his hand. His smile turned sympathetic and sad. "He wanted to be your friend for the sake of Alexander, true, but I like to think that it was his own form of forgiveness as well. As soon as  _mon petit lion_  told him about his feelings for you, John was more than willing to put aside any grudge he held for you. Almost too willingly." He sighed. "Point is, you don't have to apologize. He forgave you a while ago."

Jefferson stared at him for a second before nodding. "I think I'll just crash on your couch for the night if that's fine with you." 

"Of course." 

Thomas left the kitchen with one more glass of juice. He listened as Laf went around shutting off lights and closing doors. He waited until the final door closed and sighed to himself. He raised the glass of apple juice toward the dark ceiling, closed his eyes, and imagined Alex sitting next to him. He imagined the loudmouth going on about how he bad the kidnapping was. Not physically, of course, just that they didn't know what they were doing and how it ended up being cliche.

"Alex, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Thomas muttered, already feeling the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "Tell your mom that I'm sorry that I couldn't do what I promised. . . Tell John that I'm sorry too. I don't know how well doing this with a toddler drink is going to work out but, uhm, I just wanted to at least try, I guess? Anyway, I'm sorry. I already miss you. Maybe I'll get lucky and you'll pull some major stunt and just pop back up." 

He sat in silence for a second and his imaginary Alex disappeared. 

"Probably not, huh?" 

Another second of quiet. 

"Then I guess this is goodbye. Not exactly under the most favorable conditions, but it's a little too late to change that." 

He said one last goodbye and drank his last glass of juice to his boyfriend's memory.


End file.
